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PRINCETON,     N.    J. 


BV  4501  .B377  1898 
Batten,  Samuel  Zane,  1859 
^^25. 
■^   The  new  citizenship 


[Green  Fund  Book,  No.  la  a.] 


THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP 


CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER  IN  ITS  BIBLICAL 
IDEALS,  SOURCES,  AND  RELATIONS 


SAMUEL  ZA^T:  BATTEIN" 


"  See  that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pattern 
shewed  to  thee  in  the  moimt." 


y^X 


The  UNION  PRESS 

Philadelphia. 


Copyright,  1S98,  by  The  American  SrsoAT-ScHOOL  Umox 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


Introductory:  Whence  and  Whither. 

PAGE. 

The  glory  of  Christianity  is  its  inanifoldness. . .  6 
Its  vitality  showu  iu  diil'ereiit  ideals  of  char- 
acter    7 

1.  The  fii-st  three  centuries  of  Christianity. .  S 

2.  Tlie  ascetic  ideal 9-11 

3.  The  church  devotee 13 

4.  Tlie  Iiet\)nuation  and  liberty 13 

These  ideals  more  or  less  blended  and  inter- 
fuse I 14 

5.  The  new  ideal 15 

Tlie  sense  of  humanitv-solidaritv. . . .       16-17 

Bunyau's  Pilgrim— The  New  Pilgrim.  IS 

Progress  in  cliaracter  measured 19 

The  breadth  of  salvation '20 

Mistaken  conceptions  of  Christian  character 

and  sainthi)od 

Jesus  <Jhrist  in  the  world 22 

Christianity  an  earth  religion 23 

The  saintliood  of  everyday  life 24 

Character  gained  and  maintained.  ..  25 
Thesis  :  Learning   the    New  Citizenship  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  to  develop  right. . 

Christian    character 27 

Two  things  emphasized : 

1.  Growth  of  character  fultiUing  relation- 

sliips 27 

2.  Character    to    be   formed    in    everyday 

world 28 

1 


ii  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I.    Visions  and  Ideals. 

PAGE 

Right  thought  goes  before  right  action 29 

I.  The  Necessity  of  Right  Ideals 30 

Ruskin's  two  pictures 30-32 

Justified  by  vision 32 

Two  kinds  of  men 33 

Great  ideas  cause  great  achievements.  34-35 

II.  The  Ideals  that  are  to  be  Cherished 

1.  Ideals  of  the  worth  of  life 37 

Life  a  vanity 37 

Life  a  great  thing 39 

2.  Ideals  of  Truth 

What  is  truth  ? 39-40 

Truth  pole  star 40 

3.  Ideals  of  progress 

Despairing  views  of  world 41 

World  not  exhausted 42 

III.  The    Transforming    Power    of    a    Right 

Ideal 43 

Two  girls  and  two  pictures 43-44 

Image  of  God,  why  forbidden 45 

Transformed  by  beholding 46 

Till  Christ  be  formed  in  men 47-48 


CHAPTER  II.    The  Guide  Book. 

The  Book  the  key  to  life  and  the  w^orld.   49-50 

I.  The  Scriptures  Revelation  of  God. 51 

1.  The  gods  of  the  nations  and  the  God  of 

the  Bible 52 

2.  God  is  in  all  things  53-54 

3.  Scripture  gives  us  the  key  to  life 55-58 

4.  It  also  interprets  human  experiences 59-61 

5.  The  true  use  of  Scripture 61-63 

II.  The    Best  Method  of  Studying  Scripture 

1.  By  books  for  revelation , 63 

Prophet  Hosea,  Gospel  of  Luke 64-65 

2.  By  characters  for  inspiration 67 

Real  men  :  Saint-making  in  process . . .  68-69 

Profitableness  of  biography 69 

3.  By  topics  for  doctrine 70 

This  requires  toil,  but  repays  toil ,  72 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS.  [[[ 

CHAPTER  III.    The  Road  Over  Calvary. 


The  Cross  a  fact  in  experience  and  a  law  of  life. 
I.  The  Cross  in  Man's  Redemption 

1.  The  cross  reveals  God. . .    75 

Creation  God's  self -revelation 76 

Cross  reveals  holiness  and  love 78 

2.  The  cross  delivers  men  from  sin 79 

Shows  nature  of  sin 80 

And  delivers  man  from  sin 82 

3.  The   cross   brings  God  and  man  together  83 

Reconciliation  and  what  it  implies. ...  84 

II.  The  Cross  the  Disciple's  Law  of  Life 85 

1.  The  being  of  God  the  law  of  the  universe  85 

Christ  honors  law  of  cross 86 

And  establishes  as  law  for  man 87 

2.  Discipleship    means   acceptance  of  law 

of  cross 87-88 

Christian  Christ  continued 89 

3.  Called  to  organize  life  on  basis  of  sacri- 

ficial love 90 

Law  of  Cain  and  law  of  Christ 91 

The  power  of  the  cross 93 

The  cross  life's  glory  and  joy 93 


CHAPTER  IV.    The  Inner  Room. 

The  secret  sources  of  character 94 

I.  The  Three  Reasons  for  Prayer 

1.  The  reason  of  human  need 96 

Need  creates  obligation 98 

Personal  relations  with  God 99 

2.  In  prayer  God  imparts  his  best  gifts 100 

God's  best  gift  himself 101 

3.  In  prayer  blessings  brought  to  others 101 

Two  objections  to  prayer  : 

1.  Objection  in  name  of  love 102 

2.  Objection  in  name  of  law 103 

The  true  efiicacv  of  prayer 105 

II.  The  Three  Elements  of  Prayer. 106 

1.  Worship    106 

Thankfulness  and  adoration 107 

2.  Confession 107 

3.  Communion 108  -110 


iv  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

III.  The  Three  Kinds  of  Prayer Ill 

1.  The  prayer  that  is  unheard Ill 

From  disobedient,  selfish  heart ;  purely 

personal 112-115 

2.  The  Gentile  prayer 116 

Temporal  interests  supreme 117, 118 

3.  The  fully  Christian  prayer 118 

Full  of  love  for  all  men 119 

Moves  in  realm  of  moral  certainty 120 

CHAPTER  V.    Past  the  Dead  Points. 

Habit  distributes  men's  power  equally  and  reg- 
ularly over  life 123 

I.  The  Law  of  Habit 124 

Life  builds  itself  up  out  of  habits 124-126 

Habit  ensures  permanency  to  life 127-129 

11.  The  Place  of  Habit  in  Life 

1.  In  man's  physical  being 129 

Illustrations:  Hugo  and  Herodotus 130 

2.  In  mental  life 131 

Genius  and  habit 132 

3.  In  moral  life 133 

Conduct  a  fine  art 134 

III.  The  Right  Habits  to  be  Cultivated 135 

1.  Of  praver 136, 137 

2.  Of  Bible  study 138 

3.  Of  Christian  servi-ce 139 

4.  Of  reading 140-142 

CHAPTER  VI.    The  Less  Honored  Virtues. 

The  balance  of  virtues  in  Christian  character. .  144 

I.  The  place  of  the  Passive  Virtues  146 

Difi'erent  ideals  of  the  w^orld 146 

The  emphasis  of  Christianity 147-149 

The  efficiency  of  these  virtues 150-153 

Their  place  in  Christian  character 154-155 

II.  Tlie  Analysis  of  these  Virtues 

Humility  and  pride 157, 158 

Contentment  and  ambition 159-161 

Patience  and  ill-temper 162-165 

Character  is  Christian  in  so  far  as  it  is  finer 
than  other  character 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS.  v 

CHAPTER  VII.    The  Transfigured  Task. 

PAGE 

The  Christian  sees  all  things  in  God 107 

I.  Tlie  Christian  Conception  of  Life 

The  Jewish  idea 168 

The  Christian  idea 1G9 

The  Apostle  Paul's  teaching 171, 172 

Life  not  two  hemispheres 174-177 

n.  The    Application   of   the  Christian  Prin- 
ciple   

Christianity  an  earth  religion 178 

Jesus  doing  the  Father's  will 179 

The  disciple's  fidelity 180, 181 

All  life  belongs  to  God 182 

Each  man's  calling 183-186 

CHAPTER  VIII,    Through  Vanity  Fair. 

The  Christian  citizen  and  amusements 188 

I,  The  Christian  citizen  may  enjoy  life 190 

All  extremes  wrong 191 

Christianity  not  a  fast  but  a  feast 192,  193 

Principles  better  than  rules 195 

1.  Negatively. 

a.  Avoid  whatever  endangers  health  K)6 

b.  Shun  questionable  associations 196 

c.  Avoid    whatever    arouses    morbid 

appetite 197 

d.  Shun   what  may  cause  others  to 

stumble 197 

2.  Positivel3\ 

a.  Make  recreation  a  means  to  an  end.  198 

b.  Ministers  to  higher  nature 198 

c.  Makes  life  more  joj^ous 199 

d.  Awakens  soul 200 

n.  The  Christian  Must  Preserve  liis  Integ- 
rity. 

Be  true  everywhere 201 

Man  and  environment 202 

The  common  excuse 204,  205 

"Whatever  Christ  expects  is  possible 207 


vi  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX.    In  Mill  and  Market. 

PAGE 

Relation  of  trade  and  labor  to  moral  character.  209 
I.  The    Moral    Significance    of    Trade   and 

Labor 209 

Work  is  normal  and  necessary 210 

Wrong  conceptions  of  work 213 

Christ  ennobles  all  life 214 

a.  Meaning  of  work 215 

b.  Meaning  of  Trade 217 

1.  A  man's  calling  liis  priestly  service 218 

3.  Character  is  made  and  revealed  in  daily 

tasks 220 

11.  The   Moral  Principles  for  the    Mill    and 

Market 

The  old  and  new  economics 221 

1.  Every  man  should  earn  all  he  receives  224 

Gambling  and  speculation 225 

3.  Every  man  should  seek  to  render  largest 

service 227 

The  Royal  Law  of  Christ 228 

3.  No  man  should  take  advantage  of  an- 
other    229 

Merchant  of   Alexandria 230 

Love  not    selfishness    basis    of    eco- 
nomics    231 

Captains    of    Industry    to    organize 

society 233 

CHAPTER  X.    The  Citizen  and  his  Politics. 

The  state  one  of  three  divine  institutions 235 

Life  completed  only  in  fellowship. .  236 

I.  The  Divine    Meaning  of  the  State 237 

1.  The  organ  of  the  political  consciousness.  239 

2.  The  institute  of  right  relations 239 

3.  The  partnership  of  men  in  all  good 240,  241 

An  instrument  of  God's  sovereignty.  242 

The  Biblical  teaching 243 

II.  The  Citizenship  of  the  Christian  Disciple.  245 

Politics  the  science  of  social  welfare . . .  245 
The  obligations  of  popular  government .  247,  248 

1.  The  Christian  a  patriot 249 

3.  Governs  himself  by  moral  principles 250 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS.  vii 

PAGE 

3.  Endeavors  to  create  better  society 253 

Knowledge  of  right  call  to  service. .  255 

Making   the  New  City 258 

The  Kingship  of  Christ  over  the  State 259 


CHAPTER  XI.     The  Palace  Beautiful. 

The  Church  a  voluntary  institution,  but  most 

necessary 261 

I.  The  Church  the  Confession  of  the  divine 

life  in  man 262 

a.  New  life  cannot  be  hid 262 

6.  Nature  of  spiritual    life    necessitates 

confession 263 

c.  Church  organized  witness  for  Christ. ,  264 

II.  The   Cluircli   the   co-operation  of  men  in 

behalf  of  holiness 267 

a.  Perfection  comes  through  fellowship,  267 

b.  Through  fellowship  worship  promoted.  268 

c.  The  medium   of   mytual  service    and 

sacrifice 271 

III.  The    Church    the    organized    service    of 

Christian  discipleship 273 

a.  Church  is  Clirist  continued 274 

h.  Order  and  ordinances  of  the  Church. .  275 

c.  The  three  figures  of  Church's  work 278 

The  Church  essentially  missionary  and  redemp- 
tive   280 


CHAPTER  XII.    Gaining  the  Crown. 

The  future  value  of  present  resources 281 

I.  The  Making  of    Character  the   Meaning 

of  Life 

Three  kinds  of  men 283  ^ 

Character  the  supreme  thing 285 

Character  is  a  creation 286 

II.  The    World    Designed    for    Making    of 

Character 287  ^ 

Is  this  the  best  possible  world  ? 288 

Life  a  school 289, 290 

Conservation  of  energy   292-294 

No  mistake  in  human  lot 295 


Viii  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


III.  The  Well-made  Character  Fitted  for  High 

Responsibilities 

Character  a  timeless  thing 298-^ 

Man's  life  made  for  two  worlds 299 

The  universe  in  process  of  making 300 

Traders  now,  rulers  by  and  by 300 

Concluding  word \ 301 


INTRODUCTORY. 


WHEifCE   AKD   WHITHER. 

I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldst  take  them  out  of  the  world,  but 
that  thou  shouldst  keep  them  from  the  evil.— Jesus  Christ. 

Life  consists  in  harmony  with  environment.  The  fullness  of  it  is 
measured  by  the  response  that  we  make  to  the  world  about  us. 
The  clear  sight  of  the  eye,  the  keen  hearing  of  the  ear,  the  vigorous, 
intelligent,  and  delightful  appreciation  of  the  best  in  nature,  in 
books,  and  in  art,  the  right  relation  between  a  man  and  his  neigh- 
bors, these  things  go  to  make  up  life.— George  Hodges  :  Faith  and 
Social  Service. 

To  move  among  the  people  on  the  common  street  ;  to  meet  thera 
in  the  market-place  ;  to  live  among  them  not  as  a  saint  or  monk, 
but  as  a  brother  man  with  brother  men  ;  to  serve  God  not  with 
form  or  ritual,  but  in  the  free  impulse  of  a  soul  ;  to  bear  the  bur- 
dens of  society  and  relieve  its  needs  ;  to  carry  on  the  multitudinous 
activities  of  the  city,  social,  commercial,  political,  philanthropic, 
in  Christ's  spirit  and  for  his  ends  :  this  is  the  religion  of  the  Son  of 
man,  and  the  only  meetness  for  heaven  which  has  much  reahty  in 
it. — Henry  Drummond. 

Manhood's  the  one  immortal  thing 
Beneath  Time's  changeful  sky.— Anon. 

Spri:n-gtime  is  old,  yet  ever  new.  Tlie  man 
who  lives  with  open  eye  and  receptive  heart  sees 
larger  and  deeper  meanings  in  each  returning 
springtime.  The  universe  in  which  we  live  is  the 
same  universe  that  Adam  saw  and  Solomon  studied  : 
but  in  the  sciences  of  astronomy  and  geology  it 
has  become  a  greater  and  more  wonderful  universe. 


6  INTRODUCTORY. 

"  The  eye/'  says  an  old  proverb,  '^sees  that  which 
it  brings  with  it  the  power  of  seeing. "  In  himself 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever.  But  in  the  nature  of  things,  he  grows 
upon  men,  as  they  grow  in  grace  and  truth  and  in 
the  knowledge  of  his  will.  The  Spirit  takes  of  the 
things  of  Christ  and  shows  them  unto  men,  so 
fast  and  so  far  as  they  are  able  to  bear  them. 
Being  a  Christian  in  its  inner  significance  is  the 
same  from  century  to  century  ;  but  in  its  outward 
expression  the  Christian  life  means  a  very  different 
thing  from  age  to  age.  The  new  wine,  the  new 
glad  life  in  Christ,  which  he  imparts  to  all  who 
believe  in  him,  requires  ever  new  and  congenial 
modes  of  expression.  So  long  as  the  new  wine  of 
the  kingdom  is  being  produced  by  the  living  and 
eternal  vine  of  truth,  so  long  will  there  be  need  of 
new  bottles  for  its  reception  and  preservation.  The 
vine  is  old  ;  the  wine  is  new  ;  and  the  bottles  must 
be  new. 

Christianity,  as  Rothe  suggests,  is  the  least  im- 
mutable thing  in  the  world  ;  and  this  is  its  pecul- 
iar glory.  The  words  that  our  Master  has  spoken 
are  spirit  and  they  are  life.  The  truth  of  Christ 
is  spiritual  and  vital,  it  is  personal  and  not  propo- 
sitional.  By  its  very  constitution  Christianity  is 
not  something  that  can  be  settled  once  for  all  in 
some  mould  of  thought,  or  some  method  of  life. 
Geometry  is  a  fixed  science,  but  Christianity  is  not 
geometry.  The  truth  of  Christ  is  a  seed  and  not 
a  crystal ;  it  is  a  principle  of  life  and  not  a  logical 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHER.  7 

formula.  It  is  a  new  light  to  every  seeing  eye,  a 
new  life  in  every  renewed  man,  a  new  power  in 
every  age.  We  are  thus  prepared  to  expect  vary- 
ing interpretations  of  the  Christian  ]jrinciple  and 
diverse  manifestations  of  the  Christian  life.  The 
most  striking  feature  of  Christianity  is  its  time- 
liness, its  adaptedness  to  the  changing  conditions 
of  life.  The  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  remains  for- 
ever the  same  without  increment  or  diminution. 
But  men's  apprehension  and  application  of  that 
truth  vary  with  their  changing  conceptions  and 
needs.  Revelation,  sa3^s  the  writer  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  has  come  to  men  in  divers  por- 
tions and  in  divers  fashions.  As  the  revelation 
has  been  given,  so  has  it  become  known ;  in  many 
parts  and  in  many  ways.  Each  generation  cher- 
ishes a  few  great  texts  and  enters  into  their  deeper 
meaning.  The  truth  of  Christ  which  that  genera- 
tion proves  goes  to  make  up  the  increasing  sum  of 
the  things  of  Christ  which  are  known  to  men. 
The  truth  of  the  kingdom  is  cast  into  the  ground 
and  springs  up  and  grows,  first  the  blade,  then  the 
ear,  and  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  The 
Teacher  expressly  intimates  that  the  truth  of  the 
kingdom  is  to  be  in  every  man  and  in  every  age  as 
new  wine,  which  ever  requires  new  skins. 

In  nothing  is  the  vitality  and  manifoldness  of 
Christianity  so  manifest,  as  in  the  different  ideals 
of  character  and  sainthood  which  have  held  sway 
from  age  to  age.  As  we  survey  these  varying 
ideals,  one  might  almost  suppose  that  we  were  re- 


8  INTBODUCTORT. 

viewing  a  series  of  different  religions,  rather  than 
different  expressions  of  the  same  religion.  It  may 
be  worth  onr  while,  at  the  beginning  of  this  study, 
to  notice  briefly  the  various  ideals  of  the  Christian 
life  which  have  prevailed  in  the  Christian  cen- 
turies. 

1.  We  go  back  to  the  church  of  the  first  three 
centuries,  and  we  find  ourselves  in  a  very  different 
atmosphere  from  the  life  of  to-day.  We  find  that 
the  one  supreme  ideal  of  men  in  those  centuries 
was  a  child-like  humility  and  a  submissive  obe- 
dience. Men  endeavored  to  keep  themselves  un- 
spotted from  the  world,  and  in  patience  and 
humility  they  waited  for  their  Lord's  return.  In 
those  early  centuries  the  Christians  were  known 
for  their  virtuous  lives  and  loving  fellowship.  Fit- 
ness for  church  membership  was  proved  by  one's 
obedience  to  the  plain  moral  requirements  of  the 
gospel.  In  singleness  of  heart,  the  disciples  lived 
their  lives  in  the  sight  of  men  ;  with  a  deep  love  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  and  a  firm  hope  of  a  life  beyond 
the  grave,  they  went  about  their  duties  or  were  led 
forth  to  martyrdom.  Great  emphasis  all  through 
these  ages  falls  upon  the  moral  conduct  of  the 
disciples.  From  the  second  century  a  remarkable 
document,  ''  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apos- 
tles," has  come  down  to  us.  We  may  presume 
that  this  represents  the  manner  of  life  and  form  of 
teaching  in  that  age.  This  document  begins  by 
setting  before  us  the  two  ways,  one  of  life,  and  the 
other  of  death.     The  way  of  life  consists  in  this  : 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHER.  9 

^'  First,  tlioa  slialt  love  God  wlio  made  tliee  ;  sec- 
ondly, thy  neighbor  as  thyself  ;  whatsoever  things 
thou  wouldest  not  have  done  to  thyself,  do  not 
thou  to  another."  Then  follows  a  general  sum- 
mary of  the  moral  teachings  of  the  sermon  on  the 
mount.  In  this  age  discipline  was  rigidly  main- 
tained in  the  church,  and  membership  in  the  body 
of  Christ  was  always  based  on  the  one  matter  of 
conduct.  The  church  was  a  community  of  saints, 
and  the  aim  of  all  was  to  practice  the  simple  coun- 
sels of  perfection.  To  be  a  member  of  this  com- 
munity of  saints  was  to  be  a  child  of  God,  and  an 
heir  of  unending  life  ;  to  be  excluded  from  this 
community  was  to  be  cast  into  the  outer  darkness 
with  the  dogs,  and  murderers,  and  idolaters. 
"  They  were  baptized,  not  only  into  one  body,  but 
also  by  one  Spirit,  by  the  common  belief  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  Saviour,  by  the  overpowering  sense 
of  brotherhood,  by  the  common  hope  of  immor- 
tality. Their  individual  members  were  the  saints, 
that  is,  the  holy  ones.  The  collective  unity  which 
they  formed — the  church  of  God — was  holy  ! '' 
(Hatch  :  The  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  335).  With 
more  or  less  of  variation  this  was  the  ideal  of  per- 
fection and  sainthood  which  dominated  the 
thought  and  fired  the  heart  of  believers  in  the 
first  three  centuries. 

2.  But  slowly  another  ideal  comes  to  the  front. 
Christianity  has  become  diffused  throughout  the 
known  world ;  but  somehow  the  salt  has  not  sweet- 
ened things  ;  the  leaven  has  not  leavened  society. 


10  INTR  OH  UCTOB  T. 

In  the  fourth  century  clouds  begin  to  gather  thick 
and  dark  over  the  fair  and  open  sky.  AVithin  the 
Roman  world,  the  stain  of  vice  has  gone  so  deep 
that  there  seems  to  be  no  hope  of  whitening  society, 
and  saving  the  world.  The  bonds  of  society  are 
unloosed,  and  things  are  going  to  swift  and  hope- 
less decay.  Far  off  on  the  horizon  are  now  seen 
hordes  of  barbarians  ;  with  fierce  faces  and  wild 
cries  and  cruel  swords,  they  sweep  down  over  the 
land  to  burn  and  pillage,  to  murder  the  men  and 
carry  off  the  women.  The  Church  has  itself  be- 
come corrupted,  and  the  clergy  are  too  often  prof- 
ligate and  faithless.  "  The  Church  was  gradually 
transformed  from  being  a  community  of  saints — 
of  men  who  were  bound  together  by  the  bond 
of  a  holy  life,  separated  from  the  mass  of  society,  and 
in  antagonism  to  it — to  a  community  of  men  whose 
moral  ideal  and  moral  practice  differed  in  but  few 
respects  from  those  of  their  Gentile  neighbors. 
The  Church  of  Christ,  which  floated  upon  the  waves 
of  this  troublous  world,  was  a  Noah's  ark,  in  which 
there  were  unclean  as  well  as  clean  "  (Hatch  :  The 
Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  339).  Earnest  men  and 
women  have  come  to  feel  that  it  is  utterly  vain 
and  useless  to  make  a  stand  against  this  universal 
corruption  while  remaining  in  it.  The  very 
heavens  seemed  about  to  fall  upon  this  great  sin- 
ning, cursing,  intriguing,  corrupting  world.  What 
could  one  do  who  wished  to  save  his  soul  alive  ? 
How  could  one  make  his  protest  against  the  evils 
of  his  time  ?     One  thing,  only  one  thing  seemed 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHER.  11 

possible  and  right :  to  flee  from  the  world  and 
from  the  city  of  destruction  to  the  caves  of  the 
mountains  and  the  homes  in  the  desert,  there  to 
commune  with  God  and  to  cultivate  the  graces  of 
the  Spirit.  These  men  believe  most  firmly  in  a 
future  life,  and  this  other  world  now  becomes  the 
one  object  of  their  hope  and  longing.  At  any 
rate,  by  the  close  of  the  fourth  century,  the  ascetic 
ideal  was  almost  universally  supreme.  To  be  a  saint 
one  must  unlock  all  earthly  ties,  come  out  from  the 
world,  and  in  some  cave  or  cell,  with  much  fast- 
ing and  many  prayers,  prejoare  the  soul  for  the 
other  world  to  which  it  was  hastening.  The  great 
duty  of  life  is  now  preparation  for  quitting  life. 
In  one  immortal  poem,  The  Divine  Comedy,  Dante 
has  summed  up  all  the  hopes,  the  ideals,  the  beliefs 
of  ten  centuries.  Life  to  him  has  become  a  pil- 
grimage, and  by  weary  rounds  of  toil  and  sacrifice 
he  is  led  along  the  climbing  way  of  holiness  to  the 
attainment  of  the  Beatific  Vision.  Throughout 
all  these  centuries  the  men  and  women  noted  for 
their  saintliness  are  the  men  and  women  who  have 
adopted  the  ascetic  life  and  lived  in  celibacy. 
'^  Instead  of  bringing  the  sanctions  of  the  world 
beyond  the  grave  to  bear  upon  the  establishment 
of  universal  justice  and  love,  the  other  world  was 
made  the  object  of  direct  and  exclusive  longing. 
The  present  life  was  dwarfed  ;  and  it  was  taught 
that  eternal  happiness  was  to  be  gained,  and  misery  / 
avoided,  by  constantly  dwelling  upon  eternity  in  a 
separate  life  of  prayer   and  mortification  "  (Fre- 


12  INTBODUCTORY. 

mantle  :  The  World  as  the  Subject  of  Eedemption, 
p.  168).  The  Christian's  calling  is  preparation 
for  quitting  life. 

3.  The  centuries  pass  ;  and  as  they  pass  another 
ideal  comes  to  the  front.  The  church  has  now 
won  a  place  for  itself  in  the  life  of  the  world,  and 
has  become  supreme  over  all  human  affairs.  Every 
part  of  life  is  under  the  direction  and  authority  of 
the  church.  At  the  Jubilee  of  1300,  Pope  Boni- 
face VIII.  appeared  crowned  and  sceptered,  and 
laying  his  hand  on  a  sword,  said  to  the  pilgrims  : 
'*  I  am  Caesar  ;  I  am  Emperor. '^  The  clergy  make 
it  the  business  of  their  lives  to  observe  the  elabo- 
rate ceremonials  which  have  grown  with  the  prog- 
ress of  the  centuries.  Great  cathedrals  are  built 
where,  in  the  dim  and  sacred  light,  men  bow  and 
adore  the  host.  On  the  part  of  the  people,  there 
is  the  most  unquestioned  submission  to  all  the 
rituals  and  ceremonials  of  the  church.  The  one 
ideal  dominating  the  minds  of  men  is  obedience 
to  the  clergy  and  full  reverence  for  the  church  and 
her  services.  "  The  Avhole  cycle  of  social  and 
moral  duty  is  deduced  from  the  obligation  of 
obedience  to  the  visible  autocratic  head  of  the 
Christian  state''  (Bryce  :  The  Holy  Koman  Em- 
pire, pp.  63,  64).  These  words  apply  to  Charle- 
magne, but  aptly  describe  the  condition"  of  things 
for  many  centuries.  Church  work,  church  ideas, 
church  services  have  become  something  quite  dif- 
ferent from  simple  Christian  goodness.  In  a 
word,  it  may  be  said  that  the  great  effort  of  great 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHER.  13 

clerical  leaders  ''is  to  induce  men  not  to  conse- 
crate their  lives  to  God  but  to  be  obedient  to  the 
pope  and  the  clergy"  (Fremantle  :  Ibid.  p.  189). 
The  saint  has  become  the  submissive  church  de- 
votee. 

4.  Then  comes  the  Eeformation,  the  great  up- 
rising of  positive  religious  conviction.     For  a  long 
time  the  individual  has  been  nothing,  lost  in  the 
life  of  the  universal  church.     He  had  nothing  to 
do  but  to  submit  himself  to  the  clergy  and  to  do 
as  he  was  told.     But  in  Martin  Luther,  in  Bal- 
thasar  Hubmaier,  and  in  Calvin,  the  new  ideas  of 
the  coming  age  find  expression.     See  that  solitary 
man  at  Worms  facing  the  four  hundred  frowning 
dignitaries  of  the  church  :  he  holds  in  his  arms  a 
copy  of  the  Scriptures,  and  gives  a  reason  out  of 
that  book  for  the  hope  that  is  in  him.    Then  with 
a  reckless   abandon  he  cries  :    "  Here  I  stand  ;  I 
cannot  do  otherwise;   so  help  me   God.''     Those 
words  struck  the  key-note  for  the  new  age.     After 
a  long  and  painful  experience,  his  soul  has  broken 
through  the  shows  of  things  in  which  he  has  so 
long  been  ensnared,  and  he  has  come  face  to  face 
with  reality.     He  sees  now  that  a  man  is  justified 
by  his  own  personal  faith,  and  that  each  man  has 
to  do  directly    with  the  eternal  God.     The  Ref- 
ormation was  in  a  large  sense  the  discovery  of  the 
worth  and  place  of  the  individual.     The  Scriptures 
are  now  placed  in  each  man's  hand,  and  he  is  bid- 
den to  read  and  believe  for  himself.     Guizot  has 
said  that  the  great  fact  of  the  Reformation  is  con- 


14  INTBOBUCTORY. 

tained  in  one  word — liberty.  At  any  rate,  with 
the  Eeforniation  there  has  come  the  discovery  of 
the  individual  soul,  and  the  assertion  of  the  priv-| 
ilege  of  every  man  to  be  himself.  Out  of  this 
passion  for  personality  have  come  many  reforms  in 
church  and  state.  Protestantism  in  religion  is  the 
obverse  of  Democracy  in  government.  Men  were 
consumed  with  a  passion  to  make  the  most  of 
themselves  and  for  themselves  ;  they  became  impa- 
tient of  restraint,  and  insisted  on  the  right  of  free 
thought  and  untrammeled  action.  For  its  tin>e 
and  place  this  was  a  great  ideal,  and  it  has  played 
an  important  part  in  the  drama  of  the  world's  de- 
velopment. Since  the  Keformation  the  Christian 
ideal  has  appeared  as  a  great  passion  for  personal- 
ity, and  a  desire  to  be  free  from  all  traditions  and 
restraints. 

While  these  varying  ideals  have  prevailed,  now 
here,  now  there,  let  no  one  suppose  that  one  has 
prevailed  to  the  total  exclusion  of  the  others.  As 
a  rule  they  have  been  blended  and  interfused, 
more  or  less,  in  every  man  and  in  every  age.  But 
in  their  larger  and  more  general  characteristics, 
these  are  the  ideals  that  have  glowed  before  the 
minds  of  men.  Each  of  these  ideals  has  served  a 
nsef ul  purpose  ;  each  has  played  an  important  part 
in  the  progressive  life  of  the  world  ;  each  has 
added  something  to  the  world's  accumulating 
knowledge  of  the  things  of  Christ.  Now,  however, 
the  progress  of  the  world  and  the  inworking  of  the 
Spirit  are  slowly  unveiling  before  men  some  great. 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHEE.  15 

new,  glad  ideal  of  the  meaning  of  the  Christian 
life,  and  the  dignity  of  the  Christian's  calling. 

5.  And  this  brings  us  to  consider  that  new  ideal 
of  Christian  character,  which  the  Spirit  is  making 
known  to  our  generation.  Upon  the  men  of  this 
generation  a  magnificent  Christian  truth  is  dawn- 
ing in  all  the  morning  splendor  of  a  glorious  day. 
The  race  is  painfully  learning  what  has  been  called 
the  sense  of  humanity.  We  are  coming  to  see  the 
full  meaning  of  many  of  the  great  words  of  the 
Christian  revelation  given  centuries  ago,  but  only 
partially  understood.  We  are  coming  to  see  a 
larger  and  higher  meaning  in  those  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture which  assert  the  unity  of  the  race  in  sin  and 
need  and  redemption.  Very  clearly  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  have  set  forth  the  truth 
that  the  centuries  and  the  nations  are  bound  to- 
gether in  the  one  bundle  of  life.  They  have 
taught  us  that  humanity  is  a  whole,  of  which  the 
individual  is  a  member,  and  that  each  is  for  all, 
and  all  for  each.  They  taught  that  we  are  all 
unitedly  to  attain  to  the  faith  and  knowledge  of 
the  Son  of  God,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fullness  of  Christ.  They  taught  that  the  race 
is  a  unit,  and  that  the  first  man's  life  is  so  linked 
in  with  the  last  man's  life  that  one  without  the 
other  cannot  be  perfect.  In  other  words,  no  man 
can  enter  into  the  fullness  of  life  and  attain  the 
beatific  vision,  till  the  whole  people  of  God  has 
reached  its  appointed  goal. 

To-day  men  are  learning  to  think  of  humanity. 


16  INTRODUCTORY. 

not  as  a  series  of  disconnected  individuals,  but  as 
the  inter-related  members  of  a  living  society. 
Each  member  supplements  the  other  ;  he  lives  him- 
self by  helping  others  live  ;  ^^  all  the  body  fitly 
framed  and  knit  together  through  that  which  every 
joint  su23plieth,  according  to  the  working  in  due 
measure  of  each  several  part,  maketh  the  increase 
of  the  body  unto  the  building  up  of  itself  in  love/' 
(Eph.  iv.  16.  R.  v.).  Our  personal  life  is  rooted 
in  the  life  of  humanity ;  it  flourishes  in  that  soil, 
and  draws  its  richest  nourishment  from  it.  The 
person  comes  to  perfection  only  in  and  through 
fellowship.  Man  is  a  being  of  relationships.  So 
long  as  those  relationships  are  imperfect,  we  cannot 
have  perfect  men.  God  has  so  linked  the  race  to- 
gether by  ties  which  cannot  be  broken,  that  no 
man  can  give  the  world  the  slip,  cast  off  all  human 
ties,  and  rise  to  fullness  of  perfection  by  himself. 
The  time  will  never  come,  either  here  or  hereafter, 
when  the  individual  will  attain  to  self-sufficiency, 
and  grow  to  perfection  through  isolation.  Love, 
beneficence,  and  righteousness  will  forever  have 
meaning.  Forever  we  shall  be  members  one  of 
another,  and  dependent  the  one  upon  the  other. 
The  perfection  which  Christ  demands,  and  which 
creation  awaits,  is  the  perfection  of  humanity  in 
the  mutual  supply  of  each  member  of  that  which 
is  lacking  in  the  others.  The  whole  race  is  bound 
together  in  a  community  of  interests  and  respon- 
sibilities. Thought  is  unable  to  conceive  of  any 
such  thing  as  an  independent  being.     A  man  out 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHER.  17 

of  relation  with  his  fellows  is  not  a  man  in  all  the 
meaning  of  that  term.  AVe  begin  life  as  sons  ;  we 
continue  it  as  brothers,  fathers,  neighbors.  Father 
and  mother  are  related  to  other  families,  and  thus 
the  circle  widens  out  through  the  family,  the  com- 
munity, the  state,  the  race.  The  long  lines  of 
ancestry  behind  each  one  of  us  reach  back  into  the 
past  through  countless  generations,  and  form  the 
woof  on  which  the  fabric  of  our  humanity  is  woven. 

"  For  mankind  are  one  in  spirit,  and  an  instinct  bears 

along, 
Round  the  earth's  electric  circle,  the  swift  flash  of  right 

or  wrong : 
Whether  conscious  or  unconscious,  yet  humanity's  vast 

frame, 
Through  its  ocean-sundered  fibres,  feels  the  gush  of  joy 

or  shame  ; 
In  the  gain  or  loss  of  one  race,  all  the  rest  have  equal 

claim." 

—James  Russell  Lowell. 

Upon  the  sight  of  men  there  now  breaks  the 
vision  of  humanity,  by  the  services  and  sacrifices  of 
each  member,  building  itself  U23  in  love  ;  a  human- 
ity in  which  each  member,  seeking  the  welfare  of 
others,  has  supplied  that  which  is  lacking  in  him- 
self ;  a  humanity  growing  up  into  Christ  in  all 
things  through  the  mutual  exchange  of  spiritual 
services. 

Once  the  Pilgrim's  calling  was  conceived  under 
the  terms  of  escape  from  the  city  of  Destruction. 
The  awakened  Pilgrim  rushes  out  of  the  city  put- 


1 8  IN  TROD  UCTOR  Y. 

ting  his  hands  over  his  ears,  crying,  ''  Life,  life, 
eternal  life."  That  was  a  true  ideal  of  life  in  cer- 
tain times  and  places  ;  it  is  true  to  certain  experi- 
ences of  the  Christian  life  in  every  age.  It  has 
been  pointed  out  as  a  grave  defect,  in  Bunyan's 
great  allegory  that  Pilgrim  never  does  anything 
but  attend  to  the  salvation  of  his  own  soul.  His 
great  thought  by  day,  and  his  anxious  dream  by 
night,  is  escape  from  the  city.  "When  once  entered 
upon  the  heavenward  road  he  seems  to  forget  his 
wife  and  children  and  friends.  The  criticism,  as 
Professor  Drummond  shows,  is  hardly  fair,  as 
Bunyan  was  not  attempting  to  give  a  complete 
picture  of  the  Christian  life  ;  rather  he  was  giving 
that  life  in  one  of  its  relations.  The  complete 
picture  of  the  new  Christian  Pilgrim  is  that  of  a  man 
who  remains  right  in  the  midst  of  the  city  of  de- 
struction and  plans  and  labors  to  transform  it  into 
the  city  of  God.  His  progress  in  the  divine  life  is 
to  be  measured  by  the  way  he  fulfills  his  human 
relationships  and  infuses  into  his  tasks  the  spirit 
of  Christ.  Instead  of  longing  and  praying  to  get 
away  from  ©arth  to  heaven,  the  New  Pilgrim  seeks 
to  bring  heaven  down  to  earth,  to  build  right  here 
in  these  cities  of  earth  the  New  Jerusalem  with  its 
peace  and  glory  and  love  and  righteousness.  The 
vision  of  character  is  the  vision  of  a  man  who  ac- 
cepts his  human  relationships  and  honors  them  ; 
who  endeavors  to  fulfill  every  relationship  in  the 
spirit  of  Christ  and  to  attain  unto  a  full-rounded 
human  life. 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHER.  19 

And  growth  in  grace  and  progress  of  character 
is  to  be  measured  by  the  degree  in  which  one  has 
fulfilled  the  relationships  of  his  being  Godward 
and  manward.  A  man's  relations  to  his  fellow- 
men  measure  his  relations  with  God  his  Father. 
''  Hence  our  serviceableness  to  our  fellows-men  is 
the  exact  and  infallible  measure  of  our  acceptable- 
ness  to  God''  (Hyde  :  Outlines-  of  Social  Theol- 
ogy, p.  107).  Before  we  can  pronounce  a  man 
good  at  all,  we  must  know  how  he  is  honoring  the 
bonds  in  which  he  is  related  to  his  fellows.  ISTo 
man  can  stand  right  with  God  who  does  not  seek 
to  stand  right  with  all  mankind.  The  first  great 
commandment  is  :  ^  ^  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  mind."  And  the  second  is  like  unto 
it,  and  equal  to  it :  ''  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself'  (]\ratt.  xxii.  37,  39).  A  man's  love 
for  his  fellows  is  the  test  and  measure  of  his  love 
for  God  (1  John.  iv.  7,  8).  Religion  is  morality 
looking  Godward ;  and  morality  is  spirituality 
looking  manward.  Apart  from  human  life  to  act 
upon,  apart  from  the  relations  of  men  with  one  an- 
other, there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  Christianity. 
Men  have  sometimes  thought  of  the  Christian 
religion  as  something  added  on  to  life,  something 
which  can  exist  apart  by  itself,  something  which 
can  be  kept  hidden  in  the  soul ;  but  this  is  totally 
to  misapprehend  its  nature.  Righteousness  is  the 
quality  of  rightness.  Virtue  is  a  matter  of  relations. 
Goodness  is  an  attitude  of  soul.     Character  is  the 


20  INTRODUCTORY. 

measure  of  one^s  social  adjustments.  And  life,  in 
the  only  definition  which  is  satisfactory,  is  a  matter 
of  relationships.  The  degree  of  life  is  measured  by 
the  degree  of  correspondences  with  environment. 
It  is  not  enough  to  know  that  a  man  is  pure  and 
reverent,  prayerful  and  heavenly-minded  ;  we  want 
to  know  what  kind  of  a  man  he  is  in  the  home,  in 
the  store,  in  the  political  j^rimary  ;  what  kind  of  a 
father  he  is,  what  kind  of  a  workingman,  what 
kind  of  a  voter,  taxpayer,  and  citizen. 

Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  men. 
But  what  do  we  mean  by  salvation  ?  Not  the  mere 
transfer  of  the  soul  from  one  side  to  the  other  of  a 
safety  line,  without  touching  any  other  life  or  af- 
fecting human  relations.  Salvation  is  a  word  with 
a  tremendous  scope  and  meaning.  The  mighty 
orbit  f)f  that  word  sweeps  far  beyond  the  individual 
life,  it  describes  a  circle  whose  circumference  is  as 
wide  as  the  nature  of  man  and  as  high  as  the 
thought  of  God.  The  one  great  aim  of  Christian- 
ity is  to  make  men  good  ;  but  what  do  we  mean  by" 
goodness  ?  What  are  the  great  virtues  of  the 
Christian  life  ?  Love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering, 
gentleness,  goodness,  fidelity,  meekness,  temper- 
ance, justice,  generosity,  forbearance,  forgiveness, 
truthfulness, — these  are  the  virtues  which  Scrip- 
ture everywhere  honors.  And  these  virtues  are 
matters  of  human  relations  and  social  adjustment. 
The  man  who  is  struggling  to  be  right  and  to  do 
right  is  struggling  to  stand  foursquare  with  his 
fellows.     The  forms  of  evil  that  assail  a  man's  vir- 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHER.  21 

tiie  are  social  also  ;  hatred,  variance,  emulations, 
wrath,  strife,  seditions,  schisms,  envyings,  mur- 
ders, drunkenness,  revellings,  and  such  like. 
Here,  amid  the  throng  and  press  of  human  inter- 
ests and  passions  ;  here  in  this  actual  work-a-day 
world,  amid  the  waves  of  public  opinion  and  the 
eddyings  of  private  affection  ;  here,  in  these  homes 
and  stores  and  factories  of  earth.  Christian  charac- 
ter is  to  be  formed  and  maintained.  Its  sphere 
of  manifestation  is  human  life  with  its  interests 
and  relations. 

Before  we  can  think  rightly  and  justly  of  Chris- 
tian character,  we  need  to  get  rid  of  some  of  the 
traditions  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the 
past.  In  the  minds  of  many  j^eoj^le,  sainthood 
means  a  heavenly  sweetness  which  nothing  can 
ruffle,  a  serene  brow,  a  peaceful  heart,  an  unnatural 
calmness,  an  other-worldliness  of  temper  and  dis- 
position. We  are  more  impressed  with  a  man^s 
saintly  character  if  he  is  somewhat  pale  and  melan- 
choly ;  and  we  do  not  expect  him  to  have  too  much 
flesh  on  his  bones.  The  saint  of  the  middle  ages, 
the  saint  that  is  to  be  seen  pictured  on  the  walls 
of  cathedrals,  the  saint  who  yet  haunts  the  imag- 
ination of  men,  has  a  thin  pale  face,  with  eyes  red 
from  weeping  and  watching,  with  wasted  form  and 
thin,  transj)arent  hands,  who  takes  no  interest  in 
the  everyday  interests  of  common  men,  and  dreams 
day  and  night  of  the  city  in  the  skies.  One  was 
reckoned  a  saint  according  to  the  degree  of  his 
isolation  and  insulation  from  the  common  affairs 


22  INTRODUCTORY, 

of  ordinary  men.  Because  of  this  mistaken  con- 
ception^ we  have  failed  to  canonize  many  of  the 
best  and  greatest  saints  of  God.  A  keen  interest 
in  the  common  work  and  common  affairs  of  life 
was  thought  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  life  of  faith 
and  devotion.  A  modern  writer  has  found  fault 
with  the  character  of  Thomas  Arnold  for  the  simple 
reason  that  Arnold  was  ^'  vigorous,  youthful,  eager, 
intense,  lively,  affectionate,  hearty,  and  powerful.  ^^ 
Dr.  E.  W.  Dale  quotes  him  as  finding  in  this 
character  a  certain  deficiency ;  there  was  not 
enough  sadness  in  it  to  touch  our  deeper  human 
sympathies.  Canon  Mozley,  for  it  is  he  who  finds 
fault  with  Arnold,  says:  ''^Arnold^s  character  is 
too  luscious,  too  joyous,  too  brimful.  Head  full, 
heart  full,  eyes  beamiug,  affections  met,  sunshine 
in  the  breast,  all  nature  embracing  him — here  is 
too  much  glow  of  earthly  mellowness,  too  much 
actual  liquid  in  the  light "  (Dale  :  Laws  of  Christ 
for  Common  Life,  p.  227).  Arnold  would  have 
come  nearer  his  ideal  of  sainthood  had  he  been 
less  happy  and  human,  more  solemn,  more  other- 
worldly, more  pale  and  sallow. 

As  Jesus  Christ  was  in  the  world,  so  his  dis- 
ciples are  called  to  be.  The  Master  does  not  pray 
that  his  disci]3les  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  but 
he  does  pray  that  they  may  be  kept  from  the  evil 
of  the  world.  Jesus  mingled  with  men  in  the 
most  natural  and  human  way,  sharing  their  sor- 
rows, participating  in  their  joys,  feeling  their 
wrongs,  grieved  at  their  misdeeds,  honoring  all  the 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHER.  23 

relationsliij)s  of  life,  and  taking  an  interest  in 
whatever  concerned  man.  John  the  Baptist  came 
neither  eating  nor  drinking ;  he  was  an  ascetic 
and  a  hermit.  But  Jesus  came  eating  and  drink- 
ing and  making  himself  perfectly  at  home  among 
men.  Men  dream  of  a  sainthood  to  be  won  by- 
insulating  themselves  from  this  great  needy,  groan- 
ing, cursing,  dying  world,  and  in  isolation  culti- 
vating the  graces  of  the  Spirit,  preparing  them- 
selves for  another  world  ;  forever  despising  this 
world.  More  than  one  man  has  said  to  me  that 
religion  is  a  good  thing  for  those  who  have  time 
to  cultivate  it,  but  for  hard-working  men  it  does 
not  answer  very  well.  This  is  because  men  have 
a  totally  wrong  idea  of  what  religion  is.  Chris- 
tianity is  an  earth  religion,  and  has  to  do  with  the 
actual  things  and  relations  of  everyday  life,  with 
such  real  things  as  homes  and  stores,  factories, 
and  counting  rooms ;  with  such  real  relations  as 
buying  and  selling,  marrying  and  giving  in  mar- 
riage, voting  and  working.  Christianity  is  an  ef- 
fort to  transmute  and  transfigure  the  dust  of  our 
humanity  and  the  life  of  our  world  into  the  right- 
eousness of  the  living  God.  By  his  life  among  men 
the  Lord  Jesus  has  touched  with  a  divine  beauty 
and  filled  with  a  divine  splendor  these  common 
relations  and  occupations  and  interests  of  life. 
Christianity  is  the  most  real  thing  in  the  world. 
Christliness  is  the  mould  into  which  the  whole 
creation  is  being  shaped.  Christian  life  is  simply 
right  life,  life  that  has  come  to  perfection.     Chris- 


24  INTRODUCTORY. 

tian  character  is  the  only  right  character,  and  it  is 
Christian  just  so  far  as  it  is  finer,  stronger,  better 
than  other  character. 

But  some  one  says,  this  is  cheapening  the 
gospel ;  this  is  making  it  such  a  real  and  com- 
monplace thing;  this  is  making  Christian  char- 
acter an  everyday  matter.  Precisely  so  ;  and  this 
is  just  what  Jesus  Christ  intends.  "  We  treat 
God  with  irreverence,"  says  Euskin,  '^  by  banish- 
ing him  from  our  thoughts,  by  not  referring  to 
his  will  on  slight  occasions.  His  is  not  a  finite 
authority  or  intelligence  which  cannot  be  troubled 
with  small  things.  There  is  nothing  so  small  but 
that  we  may  honor  God  by  asking  his  guidance  of 
it,  or  insult  him  by  taking  it  into  our  own  hands  ; 
and  what  is  true  of  the  Deity,  is  equally  true  of 
his  revelation.  We  use  it  most  reverently  when 
most  habitually ;  our  insolence  is  in  ever  acting 
without  reference  to  it,  our  true  honoring  of  it  is 
in  its  universal  application "  (Introductory  to 
Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture).  The  sainthood  of 
the  monk's  cell  is  not  half  so  fine  a  thing  as  the 
sainthood  of  the  kitchen  or  the  store  or  the  polit- 
ical party,  in  which  one  may  seemingly  be  less 
devout  and  other-worldly.  It  is  comparatively 
easy  to  be  devout,  and  sweet  tempered  and  other- 
worldly in  the  monk's  cell  or  the  devotee's  closet ; 
but  it  is  a  finer,  Avorthier,  Christlier  kind  of  saint- 
hood to  take  an  interest  in  whatever  concerns  man, 
to  play  a  whole  man's  part  in  the  world,  and  to 
war  a  good  warfare  with  the  evils  of  society.     We 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHEU.  25 

call  the  missionary  a  hero  and  saint  who  gives  up 
home  and  native  land  to  preach  the  gospel  to  lost 
men  in  far  off  lands.  He  is  a  saint  and  a  hero,  and 
merits  his  crown.  But  who  expects  to  find  the 
hero  and  saint  in  the  kitchen  with  hot,  flushed 
face,  fulfilling  the  duties  of  the  home  in  the  spirit 
of  Christ  ?  Who  looks  for  the  hero  and  saint  in 
the  merchant  who  is  resolved  to  conduct  his  busi- 
ness as  if  Jesus  Christ  Avere  his  partner  ?  AVho 
discovers  the  saint  and  hero  in  the  citizen  who,  in 
the  face  of  misrepresentation  and  by  many  trials,  is 
working  for  purer  politics,  better  laws  and  cleaner 
literature  ?  AVith  many  people  spirituality  means 
an  isolation  of  one^s  self  from  the  things  of  time, 
a  cutting  of  the  ties  of  earth,  an  other-worldliness 
of  temper  and  thought.  Spirituality  is  a  tone  of 
thought  and  not  a  zone  of  life. 

Instead  therefore  of  trying  to  disengage  our- 
selves from  the  great  web  of  human  life,  with  its 
limitations,  its  heartaches,  its  burdens,  its  sins,  let 
the  man  who  would  be  true  to  the  Master  and  win 
his  crown,  accept  his  place  in  the  world,  seek  to 
honor  all  his  relationships,  and  labor  in  all  ways 
for  the  betterment  of  the  world.  The  Christian 
disciple  has  no  call  to  extricate  himself  from  the 
world  of  which  he  is  a  part,  disown  all  human  ties, 
and  live  in  isolation.  He  is  called  to  remain  right 
in  the  midst  of  the  city  of  Destruction  and  plan  and 
labor  to  transform  it  into  the  city  of  God.  The 
character  which  we  are  to  cultivate  to-day  is  the 
character  in  the  home,  in  the  store,  in  the  count- 


26  INTRODUCTORY. 

ing-room^  the  character  of  full-rounded  human 
life.  He  has  the  finest  Christian  character  who 
remains  right  in  the  world,  who  accepts  his  human 
lot  and  transfigures  it ;  who  bears  the  burdens  and 
heartaches  of  society  without  losing  heart ;  who 
fulfills  every  duty  which  life  imposes  in  a  faithful 
and  loving  spirit.  One  had  better  be  content  to 
forego  a  little  tranquillity  of  soul  and  repose  of  life 
by  remaining  in  the  world,  than  to  gain  this  tran- 
quillity and  repose  by  insulating  one^s  self  from  his 
fellows.  Very  beautiful  and  striking  is  the  story 
of  the  Buddhist  saint  who,  by  a  long  and  weary 
round  of  fastings  and  prayers  has  reached  the 
stage  next  to  Nirvana.  Now,  by  one  decision,  he 
can  forever  slip  out  of  this  troubled  scene  and  be 
at  rest.  But  he  refused  to  make  this  decisionT* 
preferring  to  remain  here  where  effort  might  bear 
fruit  in  other  lives.  '^  Not  till  the  last  soul  in 
every  earth  and  in  every  hell  has  found  peace, 
can  I  enter  on  my  rest."*'  The  place  to  meet  Jesus 
Christ  and  to  find  his  peace  is  in  the  path  of  serv- 
ice and  common  duty. 

The  parish  priest  of  Austerity 

Climbed  up  in  a  high  church  steeple 

To  be  nearer  God,  so  that  he  might  hand 

His  word  down  to  the  people. 

And  in  sermon  script  he  daily  wrote 

What  he  thought  was  sent  from  heaven, 

And  he  dropped  it  down  on  the  people's  heads 

Two  times  one  day  in  seven. 

In  his  age  God  said  :    *  Come  down  and  die." 


WHENCE  AND  WHITHER.  27 

And  he  cried  out  from  the  steeple, 

*'  Where  art  thou,  Lord  ?  "    And  the  Lord  replied, 

*'  Down  here  among  my  people." 

The  subject  of  our  study  is  the  Forming  and 
Maintaining  of  Character  upon  the  Principles  of 
the  Bible.  The  thesis  which  we  seek  to  develop 
is  Learning  the  New  Citizenship  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Grod  is  to  Develop  Eight  Christian  Character. 
Such  a  character,  being  Christian,  will  find  its 
ideals  and  sources  in  the  principles  of  the  Chris- 
tian Scriptures.  And  such  a  character,  being 
formed  upon  the  principles  of  the  Bible,  will  find 
its  sphere  of  growth  and  manifestation  in  the  daily 
round  of  life.  Two  things  are  especially  empha- 
sized. 

1.  Growth  in  character  can  best  be  promoted 
through  the  loving  service  of  our  fellows  and  the 
faithful  fulfillment  of  the  relationships  of  life. 
Many  there  are  who  go  sadly  and  tragically  wrong 
at  this  point.  They  are  forever  seeking  to  culti- 
vate their  spiritual  life  ;  they  are  agonizing  to  add 
a  cubit  to  their  spiritual  stature  ;  they  long  to 
perfect  their  spiritual  character.  ^^If  any  man 
willeth  to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teach- 
ing.^' Christian  culture  comes  through  Christian 
service.  Perhaps  the  good  Samaritan  was  thought 
by  some  of  his  pious  friends  to  be  a  trifle  lax  in 
temple  worship  ;  it  is  certain  that  he  could  not 
repeat  the  Shibboleths  of  an  exemplary  Pharisee. 
It  is  quite  possible  indeed  that  he  could  not  have 
done  his  temple  devotions  as  zealously  and  exactly 


28  INTRODUCTORY. 

as  the  Priest  and  the  Levite  with  whom  he  is  put 
in  contrast  on  the  Jericho  road.  Be  that  as  it 
may^  he  was  content  to  gain  his  spiritual  culture 
through  spiritual  and  loving  service.  One  hour 
of  such  service  as  his  on  the  Jericho  road  did  more 
to  add  a  cubit  to  his  stature  than  a  hundred  years 
of  temple  droning,  of  spiritual  self -analysis  and 
self-vivisection.  ISTo  man  need  fear  that  his 
spiritual  culture  will  suffer  by  turning  aside  to 
help  a  fellow-creature.  When  Gregory  the  Great 
was  told  that  a  beggar  had  been  found  starved  to 
death  in  the  streets  of  Rome,  he  excommunicated 
himself  for  allowing  such  a  thing  to  occur  in  a 
city  under  his  care.  He  shut  himself  wp  in  a  cell, 
fasted  and  prayed,  and  sought  to  make  atonement 
for  his  sin  of  omission  toward  the  poor  starveling. 
2.  Christian  character  is  to  be  formed  right  in 
the  stress  and  struggle  of  this  world  :  it  is  to  be 
maintained  in  the  mill  and  in  the  store  ;  it  is  to 
be  measured  by  the  degree  in  which  one  fulfills 
his  human  relationships.  Christian  character  is 
not  something  added  on  to  life,  not  some  sjDccial 
accomplishment  like  music  or  poetry.  It  is  the 
harmonious  development  of  the  soul  in  all  its 
powers  and  faculties  ;  it  is  the  soul  honoring  and 
fulfilling  all  the  relationships  of  life.  The  man 
lives  in  the  world,  but  he  lives  a  life  whose  springs 
are  far  away  in  the  mountains  of  God  ;  he  frames 
a  character  which  is  built  after  the  pattern  shown 
in  the  mount.  Christian  character  is  simply  life 
come  to  its  maturity  and  fulfillment. 


THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 


CHAPTER  I. 

YISIOXS   AND   IDEALS. 

And  look  that  tliou  make  them  after  the  pattern  which  was 
showed  thee  in  the  mount. -Jehovah  to  Moses. 

Thin  of  Buddha,  and  you  become  like  Buddha  ;  if  you  pray  to 
Buddha  and  do  not  become  like  Buddha,  the  mouth  prays  and  not 
the  heart.— Buddhist  Precept. 

In  the  outer  limits  of  the  intelligible  world  is  the  idea  of  good  ;  an 
idea  which  is  perceived  with  difficulty,  but  which  when  perceived, 
compels  the  conclusion  that  it  is  the  ultimate  cause  of  eveiTthing 
beautiful  and  good  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  universe  :  that  in  the 
visible  world  it  produces  light,  and  the  star  from  which  this  directly 
comes  ;  that  in  the  invisible  world  it  gives  rise  to  truth  and  intelli- 
gence ;  finally,  that  we  must  have  our  eyes  steadfastly  fixed  upon 
this  idea  if  we  wish  to  conduct  ourselves  wisely  in  public  or  private 
life.— Plato  :  Republic. 

Ah,  but  a  man's  reach  should  exceed  his  grasp, 
Or  what  is  heaven  for  ?— Robert  Browning. 

• 

Right  thought  goes  before  right  action.  ''  Our 
wishes/'  some  one  has  said,  ''  are  the  forefeelings 
of  our  capabilities."  All  fine  and  eSective  work 
begins  in  an  idea.  The  picture  is  older  than  the 
paint  and  canvas.  The  plans  and  specifications 
are  antecedent  to  the  building.  As  the  seed  cast 
into  lihe  ground  dreams  of  the  sunlight  and  the 


80  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

wheat  field  ;  so  the  germ  of  the  ideal  in  the  heart 
of  man  dreams  of  the  future  where  it  will  have 
full  scope.  Xo  man  is  better  than  his  best 
thoughts.  No  life  rises  higher  than  its  ideal. 
The  boat  that  drifts^  always  drifts  down  stream. 
We  do  not  want  to  drift ;  we  do  want  to  be  true 
disciples  ;  then  we  must  have  a  care  for  the  ideals 
and  visions  we  cherish.  A  great  many  lives  make 
sad  shipwreck  of  themselves,  and  waste  all  their 
powers  and  talents,  all  because  they  lack  a  high 
ideal.  Has  a  man  an  ideal  in  life  ?  Has  he  a 
vision  of  something  better  and  nobler  ?  The  an- 
swer to  these  questions  will  tell  the  whole  story  of 
his  worth  or  worthlessness ;  it  will  determine  his 
progress  or  his  decline  in  the  right  life. 

I.  The  Necessity  of  Eight  Ideals. 

The  man  who  can  dream  well  is  sure  to  get  on 
in  the  world.  He  has  a  reason  for  living,  and  a 
power  for  progress.  Because  of  his  visions  it  is 
worth  while  for  him  to  try  to  live  a  man's  life. 
John  Euskin,  in  one  of  his  suggestive  lectures  on 
art,  has  very  clearly  shown  the  reason  why  some 
nations  have  made  no  progre'ss  in  art,  while  others 
have  carried  art  to  its  highest  perfection.  He 
sums  up  his  conclusions  in  words  like  these  : 
Whenever  art  is  practised  for  art's  sake,  and  for 
the  delight  of  the  workman  in  what  he  does  and 
produces,  instead  of  in  what  he  inter2:)rets  and  re- 
veals, there  art  has  a  most  fatal  influence  on  heart 
and  brain,  and  becomes  the  destruction  both  of  in- 


VISIONS  AND  IDEALS.  31 

tellectual  and  moral  power.  On  the  other  hand^ 
art  that  is  devoted  humbly  and  self-forgetfully  to 
a  statement  and  interpretation  of  the  facts  of  the 
universe  is  always  helpful  and  beneficent  to  man- 
kind, and  is  sure  to  advance  towards  perfection. 
To  illustrate  this  truth,  he  shows  two  old  pieces 
of  work  taken  from  the  early  stages  in  art  in  their 
respective  nations.  These  two  pictures  show 
clearly  the  difference  between  conventional  art 
and  progressive  art.  The  first  piece,  made  in 
Ireland,  is  taken  from  a  Psalter  of  the  eighth 
century,  and  is  intended  to  represent  an  angel. 
This  belongs  to  what  Euskin  calls  an  utterly  dead 
school  of  art.  A  figure  is  drawn  very  much  in  the 
shape  of  a  pyramid,  with  an  almost  circular  afiair 
crowning  it,  representing  the  head.  The  lines  of 
one  side  of  the  figure  are  exactly  matched  by  the 
lines  of  the  other  side.  The  fingers  taper  to  a 
point,  and  in  each  palm  are  three  red  spots.  The 
eyes  are  simple  circles  with  a  circular  dot  in  the 
centre,  the  head  is  surmounted  with  a  curious 
covering,  and  there  is  no  mouth  to  this  strange 
being.  Every  line  of  the  figure  is  formal,  mathe- 
matical, lifeless.  It  is  evident  that  the  artist  has 
simply  tried  to  draw  a  few  lines  and  circles,  and 
that  he  had  no  great  idea  that  he  wanted  to  rep- 
resent. From  such  beginnings,  says  Euskin,  no 
good  art  can  ever  come. 

The  other  picture  belongs  to  a  very  different 
order  of  work,  and  is  taken  from  the  church  of 
St.  Ambrogio  at  Milan.     The  artist  has  tried  to 


32  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

portray  the  serpent  beguiling  Eve.  The  work  is 
exceedingly  crude,  and  the  lines  are  rough  and 
imperfect.  But  there  is  not  a  conventional  or 
dead  line  in  it.  It  is  clear  that  the  artist  is  labor- 
ing to  express  an  idea  that  is  far  above  his  power 
of  execution.  He  is  not  thinking  of  his  lines  but 
of  his  idea.  To  the  people  who  thus  begin,  says 
Euskin,  nothing  can  be  impossible  ;  everything  is 
prophetic  and  contains  the  promise  and  potency 
of  a  better  day.  The  conclusion  is  clear  :  the  man 
or  the  people  satisfied  with  themselves  and  with 
their  work  never  advance  ;  it  is  only  those  who 
have  an  ideal  which  is  far  beyond  them,  who  really 
struggle  on  and  struggle  up  into  life  and  perfec- 
tion. 

A  man's  ideal  is  his  reason  for  living.  "We  are 
justified  by  faith,  says  the  Apostle.  But  what  is 
faith,  this  faith  that  justifies  ?  Faith  is  a  vision 
of  the  soul,  an  aspiration  after  moral  goodness. 
*'  Faith,"  says  G-eorge  Matheson,  ''  is  the  sight  of 
the  moral  ideal.  To  believe  in  Christ  is  a  sign 
of  moral  goodness  because  it  is  a  belief  in  moral 
purity. •''  The  man  who  has  this  sight  of  the  moral 
perfection  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  makes  choice  of 
him, — that  man  is  justified  by  faith.  Heaven 
estimates  our  worth  or  worthlessness  not  by  what 
we  are,  but  by  what  we  are  going  to  be.  The  man 
who  really  believes  in  Christ,  '^believes  in  the 
beauty  of  goodness,  in  the  desirableness  of  purity, 
in  the  right  of  righteousness  to  be  ultimately 
triumphant "    (Matheson     Landmarks    of    New 


VISIONS  AJSn  IDEALS.  33 

Testament  Morality,  p.  108).  We  are  justified, 
not  because  we  have  any  merit  of  our  own,  but 
because  we  see  the  merit  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
make  choice  of  him.  You  look  at  a  little  shoot 
just  breaking  through  the  ground,  and  you  say  it 
is  an  oak.  Between  that  shoot  and  the  great 
spreading  tree  there  is  a  vast  distance  of  years  and 
growth  ;  but  in  that  shoot  there  is  all  the  promise 
and  prophecy  of  the  full-grown  tree.  Here  in  the 
heart  of  man  is  hidden  a  little  germ  of  faith  in  the 
Son  of  man.  But  the  great  Father,  as  he  bends 
down  in  love  over  his  child,  sees  in  that  germ  the 
pledge  of  likeness  to  himself.  To  see  Jesus  Christ 
in  this  moral  way  is  already  to  be  in  possession  of 
his  spirit.  So  the  man  is  justified  by  his  vision 
of  Christ's  love  and  purity  and  goodness,  and  his 
choice  of  that  vision. 

See  those  two  men  praying  in  the  temple.  There 
stands  the  Pharisee  praying  with  himself,  flatter- 
ing himself,  comparing  himself  with  the  men 
around,  and  thoroughly  satisfied  with  himself. 
He  stands  the  comparison  pretty  well ;  there  is  no 
doubt  about  that.  But  he  is  so  good,  so  well  sat- 
isfied with  himself,  that  he  will  never  be  any 
better.  Off  in  a  corner  stands  a  poor  publican  in 
a  very  different  frame  of  mind.  He  forgets  all 
about  the  attainments  and  failures  of  other  men, 
and  thinks  only  of  God  and  of  Cod^s  requirements. 
As  men  estimate  things,  his  life  will  not  compare 
very  favorably  with  that  of  the  Pharisee.  But  his 
one  great  aspiration  is  to  keep  step  with  the  in- 
3 


34  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

finite  God.  What  wonder  tliat,  out  of  a  great, 
deep  sense  of  shortcoming,  he  should  cry  :  "  jjrod 
he  merciful  to  me  a  sinner^'  ?  *'  I  tell  you/^  said 
Jesus  Christ,  and  he  knew,  '^  this  man  went  down 
to  his  house  justified  rather  than  the  other/^  Bet- 
ter, like  the  Publican  to  aspire  after  God,  and 
smite  the  breast  with  a  painful  sense  of  shortcom- 
ing, than  to  be  satisfied  with  being  as  good  as  other 
men,  and  never  become  any  better.  Better,  in- 
finitely better,  to  be  forever  tormented  by  "the 
malady  of  the  ideal,'^  than  to  compare  one's  self 
with  other  lives,  and  feel  the  need  of  nothing. 
Better,  immeasurably  better,  to  live  on  the  small 
arc  of  an  infinfte  circle,  than  to  compass  the  whole 
area  of  a  three-foot  circumference.  Better  be  the 
least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven- with  an  outlook  as 
wide  as  eternity,  than  to  be  a  king  among  men, 
with  a  horizon  bounded  by  the  cradle  and  the 
grave.     Lowell  is  right, 

"  Not  failure  but  low  aim  is  crime." 

The  least  in  the  kingdom  of  God  is  greater  than 
the  greatest  outside  that  kingdom.  AVhy  ?  Be- 
cause he  has  a  wider  outlook,  a  higher  aspiration, 
a  larger  opportunity. 

No  man  is  ever  better  than  his  best  thoughts. 
Professor  Hart  has  said  :  "  Great  ideas  precede 
and  cause  great  achievements.  The  ideal  Achilles 
made  the  real  heroes  of  Marathon  and  the  Grani- 
cus  "  (Life  of  Shakespeare).  Let  no  Christian 
disciple   be  afraid  to   dream  and  to   cherish  his 


VISIONS  AND  IDEALS.  35 

ideals.  ^^  Where  there  is  no  vision  the  people  per- 
ish/' The  ideals  of  a  nation  are  more  important 
than  its  laws  and  legislatures.  Youth  especially 
is  the  time  of  aspiration  and  idealism.  But  the 
prophet  Joel  foresaw  a  day  when  young  men  shall 
see  visions,  and  old  men  shall  dream  dreams.  Let 
every  one  then,  of  whatever  age,  who  would  ad- 
vance, who  would  be  that  great  and  wonderful 
thing  God  meant  him  to  be,  not  fear  to  cherish 
his  finest  and  highest  ideals.  These  ideals  and 
visions  are  the  breath  of  eternity  blowing  across 
the  stagnant  marshes  of  this  world  to  cleanse  and 
purify  them.  Let  a  man  give  his  ideals  a  chance 
to  develop  in  all  their  glory  and  luxuriance.  It 
will  be  time  enough  to  hesitate  and  trim  and  creep 
when  life  is  half  over.  Never  mind  if  men  do  call 
him  a  dreamer  of  dreams.  Once  upon  a  time  ten 
men  mocked  a  younger  brother  because  he  dreamed 
great  dreams.  They  envied  him  at  first,  and  then 
went  on  to  hate  him.  But  the  dreamer  dreamed 
on,  and  the  time  came  when  they  were  willing  to 
bow  at  his  feet  and  acknowledge  him  as  brother. 

Everything  worth  doing  in  this  world  has  been 
done  by  a  ''  dreamer. '^  America  Avas  a  dream  to 
Columbus  long  before  it  was  a  land  to  Europe. 
The  thoughts  of  youth,  Longfellow  says,  are  long 
thoughts.  The  world  is  yet  in  its  springtime,  and 
everything  worth  doing  and  thinking  has  not  been 
done.  Life  is  full  of  unexhausted  possibilities. 
Do  not  believe  the  words  of  the  man  who  would 
tell  you  that  the  future  of  this  world  is  mainly  in 


36  Th^  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

the  past,  who  says  that  there  is  nothing  more  to 
be  known  of  God,  nothing  more  to  be  seen  in 
Christ,  nothing  heroic  to  be  done  for  the  kingdom. 
The  man  of  visions  will  find  that  he  has  a  hard 
time  of  it  in  this  hard,  matter-of-fact,  prosaic 
world.  Men  Avill  pity  him,  and  will  say,  half  in 
compassion,  half  in  despair  :  "  Oh,  yes,  I  once, 
like  you,  had  my  dreams  and  visions,  but  life  has 
knocked  them  all  out  of  me.  Cherish  your  dreams 
while  you  can,  but  let  me  tell  you,  they  are  but 
dreams  and  delusions."  Too  often  youth  is  chilled 
and  discouraged  by  these  dismal  words,  and  begins 
to  pitch  the  life  at  a  lower  note.  Slowly  the 
ideals  and  aspirations  of  the  heart  begin  to  droop 
and  die  like  flowers  before  an  arctic  wind.  It  is 
not  easy  to  keep  the  vision  and  hopefulness  of 
youth  right  on  to  the  end  of  life  ;  but  the  Christian 
must  dare  to  do  it.  A  Christian  is  a  supreme 
idealist ;  he  is  one  who  lives  for  an  ideal.  Some- 
one has  spoken  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  "  That 
Good  Idealist.'"'    We  need  not  fear  the  term. 

"  It  takes  a  soul 
To  move  a  body  :  it  takes  a  high-souled  man 
To  move  the  masses  even  to  a  cleaner  sty ; 
It  takes  the  ideal  to  blow  an  inch  inside 
The  dust  of  the  actual." 

The  man  who  enters  into  God's  plan  and  purpose, 
and  cherishes  his  visions  and  ideals,  can  keep  a 
sunny  face  and  a  cheerful  heart  all  the  way  to  the 
glory  land. 


VISIONS  AND  IDEALS.  37 

11.  The  Ideals  that  are  to  be  Cherished. 

First  of  all,  one  must  cherish  a  high  ideal  of 
the  worth  and  meaning  of  life  itself.  In  all  ages 
there  have  been  men  who  have  affected  to  despise 
life,  and  have  spoken  slightingly  of  it.  The  book 
of  Ecclesiastes  is  full  of  this  despair  of  life.  Every- 
thing is  old,  the  sun  is  old,  life  is  old,  love  is  old, 
everything  is  in  its  last  stage,  every  mine  has  been 
worked  out,  every  song  has  been  sung,  nothing  re- 
mains for  man  but  warmed-over  dishes.  ''  Vanity 
of  vanities,  all  is  vanity."  Man  is  nothing,  as  one 
end  comes  alike  to  man  and  dog.  The  dead  are 
better  oS  than  the  living,  for  they  have  done  with 
this  wearisome  thing  called  life.  The  preacher  is 
weary  of  everything,  weary  of  knowledge,  weary 
of  fame,  weary  of  effort,  weary  of  wine  and  women, 
weary  of  watching  the  ways  of  men,  weary  of  ob- 
serving the  beauty  of  the  world,  weary  of  earth's 
palaces  and  gardens.  ''  All  is  vanity  and  vexation 
of  spirit."  This  book,  says  Dr.  K.  W.  Dale,  was 
written,  not  by  a  great  saint,  but  by  a  great  sinner. 

This  conception  of  life  has  found  many  expres- 
sions in  all  ages  and  lands.     Hear  Kirke  White 

cry: 

♦ 

*'  What  is  this  passing  life  ? 
A  peevish  April  day  ; 
A  little  sun,  a  little  rain, 
And  then  night  sweeps  along  the  plain, 
And  all  things  fade  away." 

Hear  Byron,  out  of  his  disgust  of  life,  say  : 


38  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

*'  Count  o'er  the  joys  thine  hours  have  seen, 
Count  o'er  thy  days  from  sorrow  free, 
And  know,  whatever  thou  hast  been, 
'Tis  something  better  not  to  be." 

Hear  also  Shakespeare  make  Macbeth  lament : 

*'  To-morrow,  and  to-morrow,  and  to-morrow. 
Creeps  in  this  petty  pace  from  day  to  day 
To  the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time  ; 
And  all  our  yesterdays  have  lighted  fools 
The  way  to  dusty  death.     Out,  out  brief  candle  ! 
Life's  but  a  walking  shadow,  a  poor  player. 
That  struts  and  frets  his  hour  upon  the  stage, 
And  then  is  heard  no  more  ;  it  is  a  tale 
Told  by  an  idiot,  full  of  sound  and  fury. 
Signifying  nothing." 

l^ow,  the  Christian  disciple  must  refuse  to  be- 
lieve one  word  of  this.  Life  is  not  a  vanity  and  a 
cheat,  and  the  things  that  men  do  and  dream  are 
not  delusions.  Life  is  infinitely  worth  while  to 
the  man  who  will  make  it  so.  Life  is  not  a  cheap 
and  empty  thing,  but  a  divine  thing  full  of  divine 
surprises.  Far  truer,  far  more  Christian  than 
these  dismal  and  godless  views  of  life  is  the  word 
of  Browning,  that  man  who  believed  in  love  and 
was  very  sure  of  God. 

"  Grow  old  along  with  me. 
The  best  is  yet  to  be, 

The  last  of  life,  for  which  the  first  was  made  ; 
Our  times  are  in  his  hand 
Who  saitli :  "  A  whole  I  planned, 
Youth  shows  but  half , trust  God,  see  all,  nor  be  afraid." 


VISIONS  AND  IDEALS.  39 

Again^  lie  sa3^s  in  a  final  confession  of  liis  faith  : 

One  who  never  turned  his  back  but  marched  breast  for- 
ward. 

Never  doubted  clouds  would  break. 

Never  dreamed,    though  right   were    worsted,   wrong 
would  triumi:)h, 

Held  we  fall  to  rise,  are  baffled  to  fight  better, 
Sleep  to  wake. 

*'  No,  at  noonday  in  the  bustle  of  man's  work  time. 
Greet  the  unseen  with  a  cheer  1 

Bid  liim  forward,  breast  and  back  as  either  should  be, 
'  Strive  and  thrive.'    Cry,  '  Speed,— fight  on,  fare  ever, 
There  as  here.' " 

Again,  one  needs  to  cherisli  an  ideal  of  truth  and 
dut}^  Truth  is  the  most  precious  thing  in  the 
world,  and  in  all  ages  has  been  the  one  object  of 
search  by  philosophers  and  prophets,  poets  and 
thinkers.  That  old,  old  question  of  Pdate's— 
half  sneering,  half  hopeless— has  been  repeated 
again  and  again  :  What  is  truth  ?  Before  ojie  has 
lived  long  in  the  world  he  will  find  men  who  are 
skeptical  concerning  the  reality  of  truth.  They 
have  mingled  much  with  the  world  of  men  and 
things  ;  they  have  gone  behind  the  scenes  *and 
have  watched  the  players  making  up  for  their 
parts  ;  they  have  mixed  with  the  world's  business 
and  politics,  and  know  how  false  are  many  cur- 
rent opinions  ;  they  are  acquainted  with  the  books 
and  papers  of  the  day,  and  know  how  crude  and 
hasty  are  the  ideas  put  forth  with  so  much  flourish  ; 
they  have  used  their  reason  and  have  found  many 


40  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

of  the  common  opinions  of  men  utterly  incapable 
of  proof.  And  now  at  last  they  find  themselves 
where  Pilate  stood,  sure  of  nothing,  questioning 
everything.  One  of  these  thinkers  has  told  us 
that  every  candid  thinker  will  admit  that  a  uni- 
verse may  exist  where  two  and  two  do  not  make 
four,  and  where  two  straight  lines  may  enclose  a 
space.  Surely  the  man  who  could  believe  that 
ought  to  have  no  difficulty  with  the  gospel  story, 
miracles  and  all ;  nay,  he  ought  to  be  able  to  ac- 
cept the  Apocryphal  books  in  the  bargain.  The 
meanest  demon  in  the  brood  is  Mephistopheles, 
the  mocking  spirit  that  denies,  for  the  sake  of 
denying. 

Before  one  has  gone  far  through  life  he  will  find 
many  lights  arise  and  shine  before  him,  each 
claiming  to  be  the  pole  star.  I  remember  a  picture 
which  I  saw  when  a  boy,  of  a  man  crossing  a 
swamp  at  night,  who  sees  before  him  a  bright 
light,  apparently  of  a  lantern  sent  to  show  him  the 
way  across  the  bog.  But,  alas,  it  was  biit  an 
ignis  fatuus,  a  will-o^-the-wisp  born  of  the  swamp 
itself.  Some  of  the  fires  the  boys  kindle  on  elec- 
tion* nights  seem  brighter  and  larger  than  the 
eternal  stars  in  God^s  heaven.  And  very  often 
men  are  dazzled  by  these  bonfires,  and  lose  sight 
of  the  pole  star.  But  soon  the  brave  fire  dies  down 
to  ashes,  andlo,  high  above  burns  the  star  to  guide 
lost  and  weary  travelers  safe  home.  The  smoke 
of  our  bonfires  may  hide  for  a  time  the  heavens, 
but  be  sure  that  above  the   smoke  the  stars  are 


VISIONS  AND  IDEALS.  41 

shining  on  in  their  calm  depths,  unchanged  and 
tinchangeable.  To  be  brave  and  true  one  must 
cherish  the  ideal  of  truth,  even  in  the  darkest  and 
gloomiest  night.  Believe  in  truth  ;  believe  that  it 
is  the  only  thing  in  the  world  worth  possessing  ; 
believe  that  the  search  for  it  is  the  finest  work  of 
mortal  man.  Cherish  the  confidence  that  there 
are  some  things  in  this  world  worth  living  for  and 
worth  dying  for.  Be  willing  to  have  done  with* 
half  truths  and  delusions,  and  be  willing  to  follow 
truth  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Know  that  nothing 
in  this  universe  is  so  mighty  as  truth  ;  know  also 
that  a  lie  is  weak  though  it  have  all  the  fleets  and 
armies  of  the  world  behind  it.  The  eternal  years 
of  God  are  truth's. 

And  last  of  all,  cherish  the  ideal  of  progress. 
The  worst  form  of  unbelief  is  unbelief  in  the 
future  and  the  better.  There  are  men  w^ho  tell 
us  that  all  things  are  going  wrong  in  this  world, 
who  assert  that  things  are  going  to  swift  and  hope- 
less decay.  "  0  my  soul,  come  not  thou  into  their 
counsel ;  unto  their  assembly,  mine  honor,  be  not 
thou  united. "  The  man  who  despairs  of  the  future 
is  lost  to  all  high  endeavor  and  hopeful  living. 
The  Christian  disciple  must  not  listen  to  the 
whispers  of  mutiny  in  the  ranks,  but  must  heed 
the  inspiring  call  of  the  leader,  as  he  summons 
him  forward  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  There  are 
many  things  in  the  world  that  cause  serious  mis- 
giving and  fear.  Look  at  the  lives  blighted  and 
blasted  in  our  brightest  civilization  ;  think  of  the 


42  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

dram-shop  where  manhood  and  hope  and  eternity 
are  thrown  away  ;  go  through  one  of  our  great 
cities  and  see  thousands  of  lives  out  of  whom 
poverty  and  misery  have  crushed  all  hope  and  self- 
respect  ;  consider  how  the  great  Christian  nations 
of  the  world  are  increasing  their  armies  and  navies, 
and  are  multiplying  the  means  of  destruction.  In 
the  face  of  these  things,  it  is  not  easy  to  believe  in 
•progress  and  perfection.  Many  a  light-hearted 
person  has  started  out  in  life  ignorant  of  the  world, 
full  of  hope  and  enthusiasm,  expecting  that  at  his 
approach  the  evils  and  miseries  of  the  world  will 
strike  tent  and  vanish.  Soon  or  late  one  sees 
things  as  they  are.  Now  with  the  facts  of  life 
full  in  sight  dare  one  hope  ?  Dare  he  cherish  his 
ideal  of  progress  ?  This  is  the  trial  of  faith  ;  this 
is  the  trial  of  every  new  age. 

''  I  slept  and  dreamed  that  life  was  beauty  ; 
I  woke  and  found  that  life  was  duty." 

On  all  sides  we  are  told  that  the  world  is  old, 
that  we  have  come  to  the  end  of  the  ages,  that  our 
civilization  has  exhausted  itself,  and  now  nothing 
is  before  us  but  degeneration  and  darkness.  But 
one  must  steadfastly  refuse  to  give  place  to  these 
gloomy  and  despairing  views  of  life.  He  must 
cherish  a  passionate  faith  in  progress  ;  he  must 
believe  that  a  better  order  is  coming  to  the  birth 
out  of  the  travail  and  pain  of  our  age.  Suppose 
that  a  treatise  written  by  some  intelligent  specta- 
tor of  the  Paleozoic  age  had  come  down  to  us.     In 


VISIONS  AND  IDEALS.  43 

it  lie  describes  the  mighty  convulsions  of  that 
period^  when  continents  are  sunk  here  and  up- 
heaved there,  when  great  volleys  of  lightning 
threaten  to  tear  the  very  heavens  asunder,  when 
volcanoes  below  answer  the  fire  above,  when  chaos 
seems  about  to  come  again  at  any  moment.  Xo 
doubt  in  such  a  treatise  we  should  have  many 
ominous  laments  over  the  changes  and  convulsions 
that  threaten  to  overwhelm  all  life  in  a  universal 
holocaust  of  death.  Yet,  to  us  looking  back 
through  the  ages  of  geologic  history  and  change, 
we  see  that  out  of  the  convulsions  of  that  age 
there  came  the  Mesozoic  age,  one  step  higher  in 
the  world  drama. 

*'  Eternal  process  moving  on, 

From  state  to  state  the  spirit  walks  ; 
And  these  are  but  tlie  shatter'd  stalks, 
Or  ruin'd  chrysalis  of  one." 

— Tennyson  :  In  Memoriani,  Ixxxii. 

Whatever  is  wrong  cannot  be  eternal ;  and  what- 
ever is  right  cannot  be  impossible.  To  believe 
this  is  faith  ;  to  live  for  this  is  Christianity. 

III.  The  TEAxsFOKMiis-G  Power  of  a  Eight 

IDEAL. 

A  man's  life  is  the  incarnation  of  his  thoughts, 
and  ideals.  AVhat  was  only  a  dream  yesterday 
becomes  a  resolve  to-day,  and  an  act  to-morrow. 
We  become  like  that  which  we  habitually  admire 
and  desire.  Hawthorne's  beautiful  allegory  of  the 
Great  Stone  Face  expresses  one  of  the  profound- 


44  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

est  truths  of  life.  A  suggestive  writer  tells  this 
story  of  two  women  who  lived  in  the  same  house  ; 
they  were  cousins.  One  slept  in  a  room  where  she 
could  look  upon  a  picture  of  Marie  Antoinette  ; 
the  other  had  placed  a  picture  of  Joan  of  Arc  at 
the  foot  of  her  bed.  Each  girl,  on  opening  her 
eyes  in  the  morning,  looked  upon  a  picture ;  one 
saw  Marie  Antoinette,  and  the  other  Joan  of  Arc. 
The  one  became  deeply  interested  in  the  character 
of  the  beautiful  queen,  and  read  everything  she 
could  find  concerning  her,  the  times,  the  court  in 
which  she  moved ;  she  became  familiar  with  all 
the  vice  and  viciousness  of  the  court  of  Louis  XVI. 
The  other  became  as  deeply  interested  in  Joan  of 
Arc,  and  read  everything  she  could  find  that  gave 
her  information  concerning  this  pure,  heroic,  un- 
selfish woman.  The  one  who  looked  upon  the 
picture  of  Joan  of  Arc  became  one  of  America's 
most  devoted  and  useful  women,  one  whose  name 
carries  benediction  wherever  it  is  mentioned.  The 
other  became  one  of  the  worst  of  characters,  whose 
life  was  full  of  shame  and  sin.  Constant  and  con- 
tinued looking  upon  these  two  pictures,  and 
dwelling  upon  the  lives  back  of  them  greatly  in- 
fluenced two  lives,  leading  one  up  into  the  highest 
womanhood  and  the  other  down  into  the  deepest 
shame.     (Possibilities,  McClure,  p.  70.) 

There  is  no  mystery  about  this.  All  literature, 
all  life,  illustrates  this  truth.  Lowell's  poem, 
*' Longing,"  is  only  one  writing  among  many 
others  that  might  be  named. 


VISIONS  AND  IDEALS,  45 

**  Still,  through  our  paltry  stir  and  strife, 

Glows  down  the  wished  Ideal, 
And  Longing  moulds  in  clay,  what  life 

Carves  in  the  marble  real. 
To  let  the  new  life  in,  we  know 

Desire  must  ope  the  portal ; 
Perhaps  the  longing  to  be  so, 

Helps  make  the  soul  immortal." 

The  moment  we  think  about  it,  we  can  easily 
see  why  Jehovah  forbade  the  Israelites  to  make  or 
to  worship  any  graven  image,  or  the  likeness  of 
anything  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  in  the  earth 
beneath,  or  in  the  water  under  the  earth.  The 
image  at  once  limited  the  idea  of  God  and  reacted 
upon  the  life  and  imagination  of  the  worshiper. 
No  man  ever  became  better  than  his  best  thought 
of  God.  There  is  a  breadth,  a  freedom,  a  spon- 
taneity, a  progress  in  the  life  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
that  is  utterly  lacking  elscAvhere.  No  doubt  much 
of  this  is  owing  to  the  ideal  of  God  which  domi- 
nated the  thought  and  life  of  that  wonderful  people. 
Men  grow  into  the  likeness  of  that  which  they 
admire.  An  old  whaling  captain,  when  urged  to 
give  his  heart  to  the  Lord  said  :  ^'  Heart  ?  I  have 
no  heart ;  if  you  should  open  my  breast  you  would 
find  nothing  there  but  the  image  of  a  whale.-'' 
In  one  of  the  galleries  of  Europe  there  hangs  a 
striking  picture.  St.  Anthony  of  Padua  is  preach- 
ing from  the  text :  ^^  Where  your  treasure  is,  there 
will  your  heart  be  also.""  Another  compartment 
of    the  picture  represents  a  man  laid  out  for 


46  TEE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

burial,  surrounded  by  friends  who  are  puzzled  to 
know  what  was  the  cause  of  his  death.  A  post- 
mortem examination  has  been  held,  and  the  phy- 
sicians are  surprised  to  find  that  the  man^s  heart 
has  entirely  disappeared.  In  another  part  of  the 
picture  we  see  the  friends,  acting  upon  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  preacher,  opening  the  dead  man's 
money  box,  and  finding  the  missing  heart  upon 
the  pile  of  gold.  No  man  ever  rises  above  the 
heights  of  his  habitual  thought.  ''  Show  me  a 
contented  slave,''  said  Burke,  ^'  and  I  will  show  you 
a  degraded  man."  The  best  definition  that  I  have 
ever  seen  of  slavery  was  that  given  by  an  old  ex- 
slave  :  ^^  It  took  away  all  the  to-morrows." 

Being  a  Christian  disciple  and  becoming  like 
one's  Lord  is  simply  beholding  the  ideal  of  life  as 
it  is  presented  to  us  in  the  supreme  life.  "  We 
all  with  unveiled  face,  reflecting  as  a  mirror  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  are  transformed  into  the  same 
image,  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  from  the  Lord 
the  Spirit"  (R.  V.).  This  j^rocess is  deeper,  more 
vital,  more  inward  than  imitation  of  the  character 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Imitation  is  mechanical  and 
formal ;  this  transformation  is  vital  and  organic. 
Imitation  of  Christ,  adopting  a  figure,  is  the  child 
attempting  to  reproduce  the  outlines  of  the  land- 
scape with  pencil  and  paper.  Assimilation  of  the 
character  of  Christ  is  the  landscape  imprinting  it- 
self by  the  unerring  pencil  of  light  upon  the  sen- 
sitized photographic  plate.  Imitation  is  the  man 
trying  to  change  himself ;  transformation  is  the 


VISIONS  AND  IDEALS.  47 

man  being  changed  by  the  power  of  the  Sj^irit. 
In  the  one  case  the  man  goes  to  Christ  and  en- 
deavors to  copy  the  likeness  he  sees  :  in  the  other 
case  the  man  allows  Christ  to  come  to  him  and  to  ^ 
impress  himself  upon  the  soul.  We  are  changed 
by  beholding.  The  recognition  of  this  fact  would 
save  the  soul  much  anxiety,  much  fruitless  effort. 
The  Christian  life  is  not  living  at  random.  No,  it 
is  contemplation  of  the  glory  of  the  character  of 
Christ  till  one  is  transformed  into  the  same  image 
from  glory  unto  glory.  To  become  like  Christ  is  the 
end  of  man  ;  it  is  the  only  thing  in  life  that  is  worth 
while  ;  beside  this  all  other  efforts  and  achieve- 
ments are  petty  and  vain.  Professor  Drummond 
tells  of  a  famous  statue  in  the  Galerie  des  Beaux- 
Arts  in  Paris,  the  last  work  of  a  great  genius  who, 
being  very  poor,  lived  in  a  garret  in  one  room  that 
served  as  studio  and  sleeping  room.  AVhen  the 
statue  was  finished,  one  night  there  fell  a  sudden 
and  heavy  frost  upon  the  land.  The  sculptor  lay 
awake  in  his  cold  room  and  thought  of  the  moist 
clay,  how  the  water  would  freeze  in  the  pores  and 
destroy  in  an  hour  the  dream  of  a  lifetime.  So  he 
arose  from  his  bed  and  heaped  the  bed-clothes 
reverently  and  carefully  round  his  work.  In  the 
morning,  when  the  neighbors  entered  the  room, 
they  found  the  artist  dead  ;  but  his  statue  lived. 
'^  Till  Christ  be  formed  in  men,  no  man's  work  is 
finished,  no  religion  is  crowned,  no  life  has  fulfilled 
its  end."  For  the  attainment  of  this  end  every 
other   plan   and   project    must   stand    aside   and 


48  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

take  a  subordinate  place.  For  the  achievement  of 
this  result  every  veil  must  be  taken  away  from  be- 
fore the  eyes  and  the  soul  must  gaze  with  unveiled 
face  upon  him.  As  the  plant  in  the  window 
grows  toward  the  light  :  so  the  soul  grows  toward 
him  whom  it  loves  and  desires.  Forty  days  Moses 
communed  with  God  on  the  mount,  contemplat- 
ing the  glory  of  the  Lord.  When  he  came  down 
from  the  mount  his  face  shone,  so  that  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  could  not  look  upon  it.  '^His 
servants  shall  serve  him  and  they  shall  see  his 
face  ;  and  His  name  shallie  in  tlieir  foreheads  J* 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE   GUIDE   BOOK. 

Tliy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet, 

And  a  light  unto  my  path,— The  Psalmist. 

The  knowledge  of  God  without  that  of  our  misery  produces  pride. 
The  knowledge  of  our  misery  without  that  of  God  gives  despair. 
The  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  is  intermediate,  because  therein  we 
find  God  and  our  misery.— Blaise  Pascal. 

Ay,  that  old  Book,  Tfiat  shall  be  the  source  of  our  safety  and  of 
our  greatness.  Amid  all  the  conflicts  of  the  nations  that  are  com- 
ing upon  the  earth,  that  Book  shall  be  our  life,  our  light,  our  secur- 
ity, our  joy,  our  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  our  pillar  of  fire  by  night, 
our  guide  through  all  our  perils;  and  it  will  be  found  in  that  great 
day  that  none  but  those  who  are  engaged  in  this  work,  none  but 
those  who  have  the  Bible  in  their  hands  and  in  their  hearts,  will 
be  able  to  meet  the  great  conflict,  and  stand  in  their  lot  at  the  end 
of  the  days.— The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury 

All  that  I  have  taught  of  art,  everything  that  I  have  written, 
every  greatness  that  has  been  in  any  thought  of  mine,  whatever  I 
have  been  in  my  life,  has  simply  been  due  to  the  fact  that  when  I 
was  a  child  my  mother  daily  read  with  me  a  part  of  the  Bible,  and 
daily  made  me  learn  a  part  of  it  by  heart.— John  Ruskin. 

Throughout  the  land  of  Egypt,  that  land  of  an- 
tiquity and  mystery,  there  are  the  ruins  of  many 
temples  and  monuments.  In  many  cases  the  walls 
of  these  are  covered  with  pictures  and  hieroglyph- 
ics, which  had  for  generations  been  objects  of 
interest  to  travelers,  but  hopeless  puzzles  to 
scholars.  Efforts  had  been  made,  and  made  almost 
4  (49) 


50  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

in  vain,  to  find  the  key  to  these  mysterious  writ- 
ings. But,  in  1799,  a  French  engineer  found  at 
Rosetta  a  large  black  stone,  much  mutilated,  but 
covered  with  figures  and  writings.  This  stone 
was  taken  to  the  British  Museum  and  at  once  be- 
came an  object  of  engrossing  interest.  It  was  seen 
to  contain  a  trilingual  inscription,  in  hieroglyphics, 
demotic,  and  Greek.  By  a  careful  study  and  com- 
parison of  these  inscriptions,  the  key  to  the  old 
Egyptian  hieroglyphics  was  discovered,  and  the 
key  to  the  writings  on  the  monuments  was  in  men's 
hands.  With  this  alphabet,  by  means  of  this  key, 
the  mysterious  writings  have  been  read  and  the 
secrets  so  long  hidden  have  become  plain.  By 
means  of  that  little  Eosetta  stone,  the  life,  the 
thought,  the  history  of  the  men  of  a  far-off  age 
have  be^n  opened  to  the  light  of  men  of  this 
generation. 

What  the  Rosetta  stone  is  to  the  old  Egyptian 
hieroglyphics,  the  Christian  Scriptures  are  to 
human  life.  As  the  Rosetta  stone  has  given  men 
the  key  to  the  old  Egyptian  language;  so  the 
Scriptures  have  given  them  the  key  to  human  life 
and  destiny.  In  the  Bible  we  have  the  record  of 
God's  dealings  with  one  nation  and  a  few  individ- 
uals ;  but  all  these  things,  we  are  told,  are  types 
and  ensamples  unto  us.  A  type  is  an  exam^Dle,  a 
specimen,  a  pattern  of  something  beyond  itself. 
The  Bible  is  the  most  human,  the  most  divine  book 
in  the  world.  The  things  that  are  recorded  in  its 
pages  are  types  and  examples  of  what  God  is  ever 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  51 

doing  in  man  and  for  man.  It  is  a  revelation  of 
God,  of  man^  and  man's  experience  of  God.  To 
nnderstand  the  world  of  men  and  things,  we  must 
look  at  them  from  the  divine  side  as  well  as  from 
the  human.  Such  a  point  of  observation  we  have 
in  the  Scriptures.  This  gives  the  Scriptures  such 
a  supreme  interest  and  supreme  value  ;  this  makes 
them  the  key  to  man^s  experiences  and  the  guide 
of  man's  life.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  consider  the 
great  purpose  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  the  best  way 
to  use  them  for  our  largest  profit. 

I.  The  Scriptures  are  a  Reyelatio:n"  of  God. 

One  day,  an  intimate  friend  of  the  poet  Tenny- 
son said  to  him  :  "  My  dearest  object  in  life,  when 
at  my  best,  is  to  leave  the  w^orld,  by  however  little, 
better  than  I  found  it  ;  wdiat  is  yours  ? "  And 
Tennyson  made  answer  :  '^  My  greatest  wish  is  to 
have  a  clearer  vision  of  God."  We  feel  at  once 
that  the  great  poet  had  chosen  the  larger  and  better 
part.  The  greater  includes  the  less.  That  man 
who  has  a  clear  vision  of  God  will  meet  all  the 
tests  of  a  right  life.  The  knowledge  of  God  is 
the  one  deepest  and  most  constant  need  of  the 
world. 

1.  Men  in  all  ages  and  in  all  lands  have  believed 
in  a  God  ;  they  have  discerned  his  eternal  power 
and  Godhead  in  the  things  of  creation.  But  this 
knowledge  of  God  is  not  sufficient.  To  know  that 
there  is  a  God  above  us  wdio  has  all  power,  brings 
little   comfort   and  gives  no  hope.     We  want  to 


52  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

know  what  is  the  moral  character  of  this  God  ;  we 
want  to  know  what  is  his  disposition  toward  man ; 
we  want  to  know  what  we  may  hope  and  what  we 
sliould  fear.  The  gods  of  antiquity,  one  and  all, 
it  has  been  clearly  shown,  were  either  non-moral 
or  immoral.  Jehovah  is  the  only  one  who  is  con- 
ceived of  as  essentially  and  eternally  moral.  No 
man  in  the  old  world  ever  expected  his  god  to  be 
good  and  true  ;  a  religious  man  in  the  ancient 
world  did  not  need  to  be  a  good  man.  The  gods 
of  India,  of  Greece,  of  Rome,  of  Phoenicia,  of 
Assyria  and  Babylon,  one  and  all  were  immoral, 
lustful,  dishonest,  deceitful,  indifferent  to  man 
and  supremely  selfish.  The  gods  of  antiquity 
lived 

"  Careless  of  mankind, 
For  they  lie  beside  their  nectar,  and  the  bolts  are  hurled 
Far  below  them  m  the  valleys,  and  the  clouds  are  lightly 

curled 
Round  their  golden  houses,  girdled  with  the  gleaming 

world  ; 
Where  they  smile  in  secret,  looking  over  wasted  lands, 
Blight  and  famine,  plague  and  earthquake,  roaring  deeps 

and  fiery  sands. 
Clanging  fights,  and  flaming  towns,  and  sinking  ships, 

and  playing  hands — 

But  they  smile." 

Here  and  there  some  god  or  goddess  was  interested 
in  some  man  or  tribe  ;  but  love  and  holiness,  as 
elemental  facts  of  godhead,  it  never  entered  into  the 
minds  of   men  to  conceive.     Prometheus,  one  of 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  53 

the  lesser  gods,  sees  man  destitute,  cold,  shivering, 
and  with  uncooked  food.  In  pity  he  steals  fire 
from  heaven  and  gives  it  to  man.  For  this  deed 
of  pity  he  is  condemned  by  Jupiter,  the  father  of 
gods  and  men,  to  be  chained  to  Mount  Caucasus 
to  be  torn  of  vultures.  But  over  against  all  these 
conceptions  of  God,  we  place  the  Christian  revela- 
tion. We  find  that  this  revelation  is  freighted 
with  two  great  truths  about  God  :  he  is  holy,  and 
he  is  love.  These  two  truths  really  compose  the 
Christian  revelation  of  God.  Revelation  is  not 
given  primarily  that  we  may  know  the  power  and 
eternity  of  God ;  the  Bible  nowhere  specially  em- 
phasizes these  things  ;  these  things,  Paul  says,  can 
be  known  from  the  things  which  are  made.  But 
two  great  ideas  dominate  the  Scriptures  from  be- 
ginning to  end  :  his  holiness  and  his  love.  In 
every  religion  the  idea  of  God  is  the  determinative 
element.  In  its  conception  of  Godhead,  Christian- 
ity differs  a  whole  diameter  from  all  other  religions. 
Outside  of  the  Christian  revelation  there  is  no  con- 
ception of  Go*d  which  is  worthy  either  of  God  or 
of  man. 

2.  And  this  God  is  eternally  active  in  the  world, 
and  continuously  present  in  all  things.  One  great 
purpose  of  Scripture  is  to  show  us  how  continu- 
ously active  God  is  in  his  world.  He  is  the  life  of 
the  universe,  the  cause  of  its  continuance  from 
moment  to  moment.  We  live  in  what  is  called  a 
scientific  age,  an  age  in  which  men  are  busy  read- 
ing nature's  secrets  and  formulating  her  laws. 


54  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

We  speak  miicli  of  tlie  laws  of  nature  and  talk 
learnedly  of  cause  and  effect.  But  we  must  never 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  God  is  ever  active  in  all 
things,  and  what  we  call  laws  of  nature  are  but 
the  expression  of  his  will  and  the  signs  of  his  pres- 
ence. The  Bible  goes  right  to  the  root  of  the 
matter  and  says,  God.  God  thundered  ;  God  sent 
the  rain  ;  he  sends  the  sunlight  streaming  over 
hill  and  valley  ;  he  feeds  the  ravens  and  makes  the 
lilies  grow.  Not  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground 
without  him.  Changeless  law  is  the  unchanging 
purpose  of  the  everlasting  Father.  The  world  is 
crowded  full  of  God.  In  all  things,  through  all 
things,  in  the  swing  of  the  heavenly  body  in  its 
orbit,  in  the  swelling  of  the  tiny  seed  cast  into  the 
ground,  in  the  opening  rosebud,  in  the  gathering 
dew  and  the  falling  rain,  in  the  morning  sunbeam 
and  the  evening  flush  upon  the  sky,  there  shines 
out  the  glory  and  perfection,  and  there  is  manifest 
the  presence  and  activity  of  an  infinite  majesty. 
From  moment  to  moment  he  is  revealed  in  every 
mighty  throb  of  rhythmic  life  throughout  the  uni- 
verse. ^^The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork." 
'^  The  fulness  of  the  whole  earth  is  his  glory." 
The  whole  world  is  full  of  God,  throbbing  with 
his  life  and  revealing  his  presence.  The  music  of 
the  running  brook  sings  of  him  who  is  the  soul  of 
music.  The  glory  of  the  sunset  sky  tells  of  him 
whose  person  is  all  glorious.  The  procession  of 
the  stars  and  the  outgoings  of  the  morning  remind 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  65 

ns  of  liim  who  is  the  All-orderly,  and  whose  works 
are  all  in  truth. 

**  God  is  law,  say  the  wise  ;  oh,  soul,  and  let  us  rejoice — 
For  if  he  thunder  by  law  the  thunder  is  yet  his  voice." 

This  truth  is  not  poetry  and  word  painting ;  no, 
it  is  the  most  literal  fact,  the  blessed  truth  made 
plain  in  the  Christian  revelation. 

3.  Again  ;  the  Scriptures  give  us  the  key  to  the 
interpretation  of  human  life.  In  the  Scriptures  a 
few  men  pass  before  us,  and  by  means  of  the 
events  recorded  and  the  lives  reflected  there,  we 
are  enabled  to  interpret  our  own  lives.  By  the  aid 
of  this  book  we  learn  how  to  estimate  men/s  lives 
and  characters  ;  we  are  given  the  standards  of  the 
great  white  throne  and  the  issues  of  the  judgment 
day. 

A  few  illustrations  will  make  plain  this  truth. 
In  the  eyes  of  men,  John  the  Baptist  was  neither 
great  nor  successful.  To  be  sure,  he  had  a  mo- 
mentary success  ;  crowds  gathered  around  him  at 
the  Jordan  and  hundreds  accepted  baptism  at  his 
hands.  But  in  a  few  months  his  popularity  is 
over ;  his  most  intimate  followers  have  left  him  to 
follow  another.  Finally,  in  Herod^s  prison  his  life 
goes  out  in  failure  and  defeat.  A  fcAV  disciples 
came  and  took  up  his  body  for  burial ;  that  was  all. 
No  nation  mourned  him  ;  no  monument  was  erected 
to  his  memory.  Yet  One  who  looked  at  men  from 
heaven's  side  has  pronounced  his  eulogy  :  ^'Verily, 
I  say  unto  you,  among  them  that  are  born  of  women 


56  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

there  hath  not  risen  a  gi'eater  than  John  the 
Baptist. "  One  day  two  men  went  np  to  the  temple 
to  pray.  In  a  conspicuous  place  stands  the  Phar- 
isee, and  off  in  some  corner  stands  the  publican. 
Each  is  doing  his  devotions  ;  each  is  reaching  out 
after  God.  All  goes  on  in  silence  ;  no  man  hears 
the  prayers  that  go  up  from  the  two  men.  But 
the  Master  sees  and  hears  ;  and  he  gives  us  a  look 
at  these  men  as  they  appear  from  heaven^s  side  ; 
we  hear  the  prayers  as  they  are  heard  in  heaven. 
And  somehow  the  men  seem  to  be  changing  places, 
and  we  find  ourselves  saying  with  the  Master  :  '^  I 
tell  you  this  man  went  down  to  his  house  justified 
rather  than  the  other.''' 

Another  time  the  Master  tells  of  two  men  whose 
earthly  conditions  were  very  unlike.  One  man 
was  a  beggar,  who  lay  at  the  rich  man's  gate,  full 
of  sores,  desiring  merely  to  be  fed  with  the  crumbs 
falling  from  the  rich  man's  table.  His  condition 
is  utterly  sad  and  wretched,  and  not  a  man  in  the 
world  would  be  willing  to  change  places  with  him. 
One  night  he  crawled  under  a  hedge  and  died, 
with  no  one  to  fan  his  fevered  brow,  with  no  one 
to  catch  his  farewell  words.  But  one  little  line  is 
given  out  of  his  biography  as  it  is  written  in 
heaven  :  '^  He  was  carried  by  the  angels  into 
Abraham's  bosom."  Within  the  palace  lives  a  rich 
man,  happy  and  contented,  with  silks  adorning 
his  person,  and  with  plenty  of  friends  to  sit  at 
his  table  and  honor  his  success.  By  and  by  sick- 
ness came  to  the  palace ;  then  with  hushed  voices 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  57 

and  silent  footsteps  men  came  and  went,  and  all 
the  neighbors  inquired  how  the  sick  man  was  do- 
incr  But  it  came  to  pass  the  rich  man  also  died 
and  was  buried.  There  were  the  forty  days  of 
mourning  for  him,  the  long  procession  to  the 
grave  and  the  costly  monument.  A  leading  cit- 
izen, a  rich  neighbor,  a  prominent  ^^^-^^^  J"^" 
has  died.  But  we  read  on  :  "  And  in  hell  he  lifted 
up  his  eyes,  being  in  torment."  _ 

Up  in  Galilee  lived  another  man,  a  rich  farmei, 
who  e  biography  the   Master  has  outlined.^    He 
was  the  owner  of  rich  and  fertile  fields,  and  m  hi 
community  was  looked  upon  as  a  prosperous  and 
happy  man.     As  men  go,  he  was  fully  up  to  the 
LSe;  to  be   sure  he  is  seldom  fo"nd   in     he 
synagogue,  but  no  great  crimes  can  be  laid  at  hi» 
door     Men  look  and  say  :  "  Prosperous,  happy,  suc- 
cessful man."     But  God  looks  down  and  sees  and 
speaks  •  "  Thou  fool."    That  is  a  short  biography, 
buth  is  full  of  profound  significance;  it  teaches 
more  than  many  a  three-volume  memorial.     One 
day.  in  the  little  town  of  Dothan,  the  servant  of 
the  prophet  Elisha  arose  and  went  forth  from  the 
city:    Soon  he  came  running  back  m  terror  to  his 
master,  crving,  "  Alas,  my  master,  what  slial   we 
do  ?    The" city  is  compassed  with  horses  and  char- 
iots."   The  young  man  saw  the  life  of  the  man  of 
God  from  the  human  side  only,  and  he  was  afraid. 
But  at  the  prayer  of  Elisha  his  eyes  are  opened 
and  behold,  the  mountains  were  full  of  horses  and 
chariots  of  fire  round  about  the  prophet. 


58  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

Here  is  this  great  busy  human  world,  with  its 
engrossments,  its  standards,  its  estimates  of  men 
and  things,  its  honors  and  dishonors.  Can  we 
know  how  to  sejDarate  the  true  from  the  false,  the 
real  from  the  apparent ;  how  shall  we  know  what 
to  refuse  and  what  to  receive,  what  is  the  worth- 
f  ul  and  what  is  the  worthless  ?  By  the  right  use 
of  the  Scriptures  we  may  gain  this  all-important 
power,  and  may  know  what  is  the  verdict  upon  our 
lives  in  the  courts  of  heaven.  These  men  of  Scrip- 
ture whose  lives  are  recorded  are  types  of  all  men 
in  all  ages  and  lands.  They  give  us  the  key  to 
the  inter23retation  of  human  life  with  all  its  prob- 
lems and  changes.  The  poet  had  learned  this 
lesson  when  he  wrote  the  striking  lines  : 

When  God  shall  call  the  muster  roll, 

As  heroes  he'll  mark  off 
Some  who  ne'er  charged  at  Waterloo, 

Or  stormed  the  Malakoff. 

Stars,  garters,  crosses,  ribbons  fade  ; 

New  orders  here  unfold  ; 
The  widow's  mite,  St.  Martin's  cloak, 

The  cup  of  water  cold. 

The  hearts  that  saved  the  world  by  love, 

And  hourly  Calvaries  bore. 
The  mother-martyrs,  queenly  host, 

Are  marshalled  to  the  fore. 

Earth's  black-robed  throngs  are  clad  in  white ; 

Their  brows  a  light  adorns — 
A  radiance  of  diamond. 

Crowns  of  transfigured  thorns. 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  59 

Some  humble  folk  we  knew  quite  well, 
But  passed  with  scarce  a  nod, 

Now  rank  as  heaven's  nobility, 
The  chivalry  of  God. 

Imperial  names  of  history 

Omitted  from  the  list ; 
In  Paradise,  preferment  shows 

A  hidden  satirist. 

George  Alway. 

The  tilings  recorded  in  Scripture,  the  Apostle 
tells  us,  are  ensamples,  and  they  are  written  down 
for  our  admonition.  The  Scriptures  are  given  us 
that  we  may  know  what  manner  of  men  we  are, 
and  may  know  what  is  the  verdict  of  heaven  upon 
our  lives. 

4.  And  the  Scriptures  give  us  the  key  to  our  hu- 
man experiences,  and  everyday  doings.  The  heart 
of  man  is  a  great,  restless,  hungry  ocean.  Nothing 
that  he  has  seen  or  handled  has  satisfied  him.  He 
is  a  great  bundle  of  longings,  discontents,  aspira- 
tions, hopes,  fears.  Make  him  a  councilman  and 
he  wants  to  be  mayor  ;  send  him  to  Congress  and 
he  burns  to  be  president.  Give  him  half  the 
world,  and  before  night  he  will  be  wanting  some 
field  over  in  the  other  half.  What  is  the  meaning 
of  this  universal  heart  hunger  ?  Scripture  gives 
US  the  explanation.  Our  souls  are  athirst  for  God, 
for  the  living  God.  Augustine  had  entered  into 
the  truth  of  Scripture  when  he  cried  :  "  Thou 
hast  made  us  for  thyself,  and  our  heart  is  restless 
till  it  find  rest  in  thee."    In  the  light  of  Scripture 


60  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

we  look  across  the  world,  and  we  see  man  longing 
for  God,  and  God  seeking  for  man. 

"We  look  over  the  world,  and  everywhere  we  are 
met  with  the  sight  of  suffering,  poverty,  wretched- 
ness and  sin.  Evils  of  all  kinds  abound  ;  wrong 
often  appears  to  be  triumphant,  while  right 
languishes  or  goes  to  the  wall.  The  whole  world 
seems  to  lie  in  the  power  of  the  wicked  one.  They 
that  be  against  man  seem  to  be  more  and  mightier 
than  they  that  be  for  him.  The  outlook  for  man 
and  for  the  race  seems  hopeless  enough.  But  we 
change  our  observation  point ;  we  look  out  upon 
the  world  in  the  light  of  Scripture.  Kow  all  is 
changed.  The  great  world  io  seen  to  lie  in  the 
light  and  love  of  the  eternal  God.  Beyond  our 
little  systems,  beyond  the  reach  of  our  thought 
sweeps  the  great,  loving  purpose  of  God  which 
none  can  change  and  none  can  thwart.  Light  is 
pushing  back  the  darkness  ;  riglit  is  crowding 
wrong  over  the  frontier.  The  eternal  God  is  man^s 
refuge,  and  underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms. 
And  there  upon  the  shore  of  the  sea  stands  the 
winning  Christ  who  is  drawing  all  men  unto  him- 
self. 

The  standards  of  time  and  the  standards  of 
eternity  are  quite  different.  Not  until  a  man  has 
been  measured  by  the  eternal  standards  do  we 
have  his  true  rating  in  God^s  universe.  Before 
going  to  sea,  the  ship  captain  is  careful  to  regulate 
and  set  tlie  chronometer.  A  few  seconds  variation 
on  the  stormy  night  may  mean  utter  shipwreck. 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  61 

Most  important  is  it  that  men  sailing  the  sea  of 
life,  that  sea  with  so  many  contrary  winds  and 
dangerous  reefs,  with  its  eternally  divergent  har- 
bors, should  have  some  chart  of  the  sea,  some 
regulator  of  his  course.  Men  need  to  know  what 
manner  of  beings  they  are  ;  they  need  to  have 
some  court  of  appeal  for  conscience,  some  text 
book  of  the  inner  life. 

5.  There  is  a  disposition  to  banish  God  from  the 
present,  and  to  relegate  him  to  some  age  and  place 
far  away.  Men  are  quite  ready  to  believe  in  a  God 
once  active  in  the  world,  and  once  interested  in 
man.  But  to  many  men  God  has  either  been  dead, 
or  asleep,  or  on  a  journey  for  many  centuries.  At 
any  rate  they  do  not  have  a  vital  belief  in  a  living 
God  who  is  now  present  in  the  world,  and  active 
in  behalf  of  man.  We  are  all  too  much  inclined  to 
banish  God  to  some  other  age  or  place  ;  to  locate 
him  beyond  the  stars  in  the  abysses  of  space ;  we 
do  not  expect  to  find  him  in  our  streets  and  in  our 
homes  in  this  dull  and  commonplace  present. 
Men  look  back  with  longing  to  those  happy  early 
days  when  God  came  down  to  walk  in  the  garden 
in  the  cool  of  the  day,  to  talk  with  men.  Oh, 
those  happy,  happy  days,  when  the  very  air  was 
quivering  with  the  presence  of  God,  when  his 
voice  was  heard  and  his  hand  was  felt.  But  now 
men  speak  as  if  God  had  left  the  plain  on  which 
they  dwell  and  toil,  and  had  gone  up  to  the  hills 
far  out  of  sight  and  hearing  of  the  children  of 
men.     We  believe  in  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac 


62  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

and  Jacob  ;  the  God  of  David  and  Isaiah,  of  Peter 
and  John  ;  but  we  do  not  more  than  half  believe 
in  the  ever-living,  ever-present  God. 

There  is  no  warrant  in  Scripture  or  in  reason 
for  drawing  a  circle  around  any  age  or  place,  and 
limiting  God's  presence  and  power  to  that  little 
area.  To  shut  God  out  of  any  age  is  to  shut  him 
out  of  all  ages  ;  to  find  him  in  any  age  is  to  find 
him  in  every  age.  The  infinite  God  is  infinitely  at 
work  in  every  part  of  his  universe,  at  every  mo- 
ment of  time.  The  Bible  takes  on  a  new  meaning, 
and  becomes  a  new  book,  when  it  becomes  the 
regulator  and  type  of  God's  continuous  presence 
with  his  people,  and  his  active  interest  in  their  be- 
half. The  things  that  are  recorded  in  the  Scrip- 
tures are  to  be  treated  as  types  and  symbols  of 
what  God  is  ever  doing  ;  its  special  incidents  are 
the  key  to  the  interpretation  of  our  own  experi- 
ences. The  very  worst  use  of  the  Scriptures  is  to 
make  us  distrustful  of  our  own  deepest  experiences 
of  God.  That  disciple  has  not  learned  to  use  the 
Scriptures,  who  does  not  find  in  them  the  key  to 
liis  own  experiences  and  the  norm  of  his  own 
thought.  For  the  Bible  suggests  far  more  than  it 
^  directly  reveals.  The  amount  of  explicit  infor- 
mation it  contains  is  small  ;  the  truth  to  which  it 
directs  us  is  infinite.  It  tells  us  where  the  rich 
treasure  lodes  are  to  be  found  ;  but  it  has  not  ex- 
hausted any  of  these  mines.  It  tells  us  where  to 
look  for  treasure,  and  how  to  interpret  what  we 
find  ;  but  it  sends  each  soul  direct  to  God,  the  f  oun- 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  63 

tain  of  all  light  and  truth.  The  lowest  possible  use 
of  the  Scriptures  is  that  which  regards  them  as  a 
body  of  statements  to  be  learned  by  heart  and  re- 
peated by  rote.  It  is  not  the  truth  without  us 
which  makes  us  free,  but  the  truth  within  us.  It 
is  not  the  Christ  who  once  walked  among  men  who 
is  the  hope  of  glory,  but  the  Christ  within  us.  The 
one  great  purpose  of  the  Scriptures  is  to  bring  God 
and  man  together.  They  show  us  how  to  find  God, 
how  to  recognize  his  presence,  and  how  to  live  in 
him.  A  life  lived  according  to  Scripture  models 
is  sure  to  be  a  right  life :  a  life  lived  apart  from 
Scripture  models  and  examples  is  quite  sure  to  be 
defective  in  many  important  particulars. 

II.  It  May  be  Worth  While  to  Coxsider 
HOW  TO  Study  the  Scriptures  for  the  Largest 
Profit. 

1.  The  Bible  is  to  be  studied  by  books  for  revela- 
tion. The  Bible  is  a  book,  and  it  is  also  a  collec- 
tion of  books.  These  various  books  are  all  gathered 
up  and  combined  in  the  great  purpose  of  God  : 
each  book  is  like  a  stone  in  the  wall  of  a  building  : 
take  away  one  stone,  and  the  wall  is  weakened  and 
the  building  is  marred.  But  each  book  is  in  a 
sense  complete  in  itself :  it  has  its  own  revelation, 
its  own  purpose,  its  own  lessons.  One  cannot  be 
said  to  know  his  Bible,  till  he  knows  the  setting  of 
each  book  and  the  purjDose  of  each  writer. 

Suppose  we  consider  one  of  the  books  of  the 
Bible.      Several  questions  most  naturally  rise  to 


64  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

our  lips  :  who  was  the  writer  ?  To  whom  is  he 
writing  ?  what  were  the  conditions  under  which 
he  wrote  ?  what  were  the  great  truths  which  he 
sought  to  present  ?  One  illustration  from  the  Old 
Testament  and  one  from  the  New  will  show  the 
importance  of  these  questions.  We  take  the  hook 
of  the  prophet  Hosea  first.  Turning  to  his  book 
and  reading  carefully  between  the  lines,  we  find  a 
most  sad  and  tragic  story  of  domestic  sorrow.  He 
has  married  the  beautiful  Gomer,  hoping  no  doubt, 
that  the  love  of  a  pure  and  true  man  might  win 
her  away  from  the  evil  tendencies  of  her  youth. 
But  from  the  first  she  seems  to  have  been  faithless 
to  him.  Finally,  she  leaves  him,  and  gives  herself 
up  to  a  life  of  profligacy  and  sin.  Lower  and  lower 
she  sinks,  till  at  last  she  is  cast  off  by  the  men 
with  whom  she  has  sinned,  and  is  now  exposed 
for  sale  as  a  common  slave  in  the  market-place. 
Hosea  hears  of  it,  and  goes  to  the  market-place  to 
buy  her.  He  takes  her  home,  and  cares  for  her, 
hoping  no  doubt  that  in  the  atmosphere  of  love 
and  care  a  better  mind  might  come  to  her.  As  he 
sits  beside  his  desolate  hearth,  and  draws  his 
motherless  boys  to  his  heart,  he  ponders  his  sad 
experience.  Kow  up  through  his  poor  human 
heart  he  looks  and  reads  the  heart  of  Jehovah.  He 
sees  how  Jehovah  has  chosen,  espoused  Israel  for 
liimself  :  but,  alas,  Israel  has  proved  faithless  and 
perverse.  The  people  forsake  Jehovah  for  the  foul 
and  false  gods  of  the  nations.  But  he  does  not 
cast  them  off  ;  his  love  endures  through  all  their 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  65 

faithlessness.  Though  broken  and  reduced  low, 
the  people  shall  yet  be  brought  back,  and  once 
more  Jehovah  shall  rejoice  over  them.  His  book 
we  find  is  addressed  to  an  Israel  faithless  to  a  cov- 
enant relation,  a  nation  guilty  of  the  most  black 
and  graceless  sins  against  love.  For  her  sins  Israel 
must  be  punished  ;  but  Jehovah  has  not  cast  them 
off  forever,  he  is  God  and  not  man.  The  great 
truth  he  emphasizes  is  the  love  of  Jehovah  in 
choosing  and  espousing  Israel  for  himself  out  of 
all  the  nations  of  the  world,  that  they  might  be 
his  own  precious  treasure.  But  from  the  first 
they  were  bent  to  backsliding,  and  from  the  first 
have  been  faithless  to  his  covenant  love.  For  their 
sins  they  must  be  punished  ;  but  in  punishment  he 
remembers  mercy,  and  so  gathers  the  broken  rem- 
nant once  more  and  cherishes  them  in  a  deathless 
love.  To  appreciate  the  wondrous  beauty  of  the 
book  and  to  enter  into  its  great  truths  it  must  be 
studied  in  its  entirety.  By  so  doing  one  will  gain 
some  great  truth  about  God. 

Suppose  we  take  the  Gospel  of  Luke  in  the  'New 
Testament.  We  find  that  its  author  is  an  early 
disciple,  who  writes  a  letter  to  a  friend,  presum- 
ably a  disciple  also,  and  from  his  name  undoubt- 
edly a  Greek.  Other  narratives  claiming  to  be 
trustworthy  accounts  of  the  life  of  Jesus  the  Christ 
are  in  circulation,  but  these  are  not  in  all  respects 
satisfactory.  That  Theophilus  might  know  the 
certainty  concerning  the  things  wherein  he  has 
been  instructed,  this  man  takes  his  pen  in  hand 
5 


66  TUB  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

and  frames  a  narrative.  The  writer  wants  this 
Greek  to  know  that  Jesus  is  the  Friend  of  man  ; 
that  his  gospel  is  for  all  men  both  Jews  and  Greeks. 
So  he  embodies  in  his  narrative  many  incidents  in 
Christ's  life  that  show  his  universal  symjDathy  and 
world-wide  interest.  The  book 'has  a  purpose  def- 
inite and  distinct ;  the  incidents  and  teachings 
selected  are  not  taken  at  haphazard,  but  are  chosen 
to  illustrate  the  author's  purpose.  The  book  must 
be  taken  as  a  whole,  in  order  to  comprehend  the 
full  purpose  of  the  writer. 

Such  a  course  of  study  as  is  here  indicated 
means  work  ;  but  it  is  only  the  student  who  can 
enter  into  the  deeper  and  richer  treasures  of 
Scripture.  When  the'  ruling  thought,  the  domi- 
nant truth  of  each  book  is  well  in  mind,  let  the 
student  collect  his  materials.  He  will  find  that 
the  lesson  of  each  book  finds  its  place  in  the  grow- 
ing process  of  God's  self-revelation  of  himself  to 
men.  His  sense  of  the  God-inspired  nature  of 
the  sacred  writings  will  be  increased  tenfold.  He 
will  find  also  that  the  four  Gospels,  each  so  dis- 
tinct and  definite  in  its  parpose,  present  a  neces- 
sary aspect  of  that  marvelous  life.  He  will  find 
that  each  supplements  the  other,  and  each  is  nec- 
essary to  the  complete  picture.  The  disciple  who 
wants  to  know  his  Bible  must  know  it  by  books. 
Until  he  knows  it  in  this  way  he  does  not  know  it 
as  he  ought  to  know  it.  Comparison  of  text  with 
text  for  doctrine  comes  later.  The  student  does 
not  know  how  to  use  any  text  till  he  knows  it  in 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  67 

its  relations  and  circumstances.  The  character 
that  is  to  be  formed  and  maintained  on  Bible  prin- 
ciples must  have  its  foundations  laid  deep  and 
firm  in  an  intelligent  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures. 
2.  The  Bible  is  to  be  studied  by  characters  for  in- 
spiration. The  Bible  is  a  revelation  to  men  ;  but 
it  is  also,  first  of  all,  a  revelation  in  men.  The 
men  of  God  of  old,  who  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  found  God  in  their  own  truest  and  deepest 
experiences.  The  truth  which  these  men  give 
forth  to  the  world  has  first  lived  w^ithin  them  in 
their  own  heart's  experience  of  God.  This  makes 
the  Bible  such  a  real  and  human  book,  so  true  to 
the  every-day  experiences  of  men.  The  men  of 
Scripture  record  were  men  of  like  passions  with 
ourselves,  men  hoping  and  fearing,  sinning  and 
repenting,  aspiring  and  fainting,  sometimes  cer- 
tain of  God,  and  sometimes  losing  him.  The 
written  word  comes  throbbing  warm  out  of  the 
inmost  heart  of  the  man.  Just  so  far  as  we  ap- 
preciate the  reality  of  these  men  of  Scripture,  do 
we  become  sensible  of  the  reality  of  God  himself. 
To  many  people  we  fear  these  persons  of  Scripture 
are  little  else  than  painted  figures,  lay  figures, 
mere  penmen  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  tell  of  a 
hope  they  never  knew,  and  record  an  experience 
they  never  felt.  The  Bible  is  an  unreal,  remote, 
mysterious  book  to  many  persons,  for  the  very 
reason  that  they  have  never  felt  the  intense  reality 
and  humanness  of  the  lives  recorded  and  the  ex- 
periences told.     Coleridge  has  voiced  in  vigorous 


68  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

words  a  protest  against  this  unreal  way  of  con- 
ceiving Scripture  characters  and  experiences. 
'^  Let  me  once  be  persuaded  that  all  these  heart- 
awakening  utterances  of  human  hearts — of  men 
of  like  faculties  and  passions  with  myself,  mourn- 
ing, rejoicing,  suffering,  triumphing — are  but  as  a 
Divina  Commedia  of  a  superhuman — 0  bear  with 
me  if  I  say  it — Ventriloquist ;  that  the  royal  Harper, 
to  whom  I  have  so  often  submitted  myself  as  a 
many-stringed  instrument  for  his  fire-tipt  fingers 
to  traverse,  while  every  several  nerve  of  emotion, 
passion,  thought,  that  thrills  the  flesh-and-blood 
of  our  common  humanity,  responded  to  the  touch 
— that  this  sweet  Psalmist  was  himself  as  mere  an 
instrument  as  his  harp,  an  automaton  poet, 
mourner  and  supplicant — all  is  gone — all  sym- 
pathy, at  least,  and  all  example.  I  listen  in  awe 
and  fear,  but  likewise  in  perplexity  and  confusion 
of  spirit '^  (Confessions  of  an  Inquiring  Spirit, 
Letter  III.). 

It  is  an  old  saying  that  grace  does  not  find  men 
saints,  but  makes  them  saints.  The  Scriptures 
have  such  surpassing  value  and  such  eternal  inter- 
est, because  they  show  us  this  saint-making  in 
process.  We  see  such  a  man  as  Jacob,  the  wily 
trickster,  the  supplanting  deceiver,  taken  hold  of 
by  God's  Spirit,  and  led  along  the  way  till  he  be- 
comes Israel  the  prince  of  God.  We  see  how,  in  the 
furnace  of  trial,  God  humbles  him  and  chastens 
him,  burning  out  the  dross,  and  burning  in  holi- 
ness.    We  see  how  God  takes  the  shapeless  and 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  69 

dead  lump  of  clay  and  fashions  it  up  into  a  vessel 
of  great  usefulness  and  surpassing  beauty. 

No  study  can  be  more  profitable  and  inspiring 
than  the  study  of  Scripture  biographies.  Carlyle 
used  to  say  that  there  is  no  history,  only  biog- 
raphy ;  that  history  is  at  bottom  made  up  of 
innumerable  biographies.  Xay,  he  says,  is  not 
the  gospel  itself  but  a  surpassing  biography  ?  To 
know  what  man  has  felt  and  done  in  this  world, 
to  know  what  things  help  and  what  things  hinder 
him,  to  see  how  God's  grace  comes  into  unlikeli- 
est  hearts,  and  makes  all  things  new,  to  see  how 
God  chooses  unpromising  men  and  fits  them  for 
great  services  ;  to  know  also  the  rocks  on  which 
souls  have  made  shipwreck  of  faith,  and  to  know 
how  to  distinguish  the  eternal  pole  star  from 
a  wandering  will-o'-wisp  ;  — than  this  there  can  be 
no  knowledge  more  important.  To  enjoy  this  use 
of  the  Bible  one  must  study  the  great  lives  re- 
corded there  from  beginning  to  end  ;  one  must 
understand  the  times  in  which  they  lived,  and  the 
circumstances  against  which  they  battled.  One 
must  study  the  life  till  he  sees  the  world  in  which 
the  man  played  his  part,  and  enters  that  world 
with  him,  walking  with  him,  communing  with 
him,  becoming  his  companion  and  friend.  From 
the  petty  cares  of  the  hour  and  from  the  crowd  of 
unsympathetic  companions  one  can  then  trans- 
port himself  at  will  into  the  company  of  the  best 
and  greatest  souls  of  earth,  *' where  the  brow  of 
every  one  is  crowned  with  nobleness,   every  eye 


n/ 


70  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

beams  encouragement,  and  the  air  is  redolent  of 
faith  and  hope  and  love." 

3.  And  finally,  the  Bible  is  to  be  studied  by  topics 
for  doctrine.  We  are  living  in  an  age  that  has 
become  somewhat  impatient  of  doctrine.  Perhaps 
some  of  this  impatience  is  not  without  reason,  as 
doctrine  has  at  times  been  emphasized  rather  than 
life.  Great  injustice  has  been  done  the  Bible  by 
those  who  have  made  it  a  storehouse  of  proof  texts. 
Passages  have  been  torn,  throbbing  and  bleeding, 
out  of  their  connection,  and  have  been  built  into 
the  cold  and  corpse-like  form  of  some  doctrine. 
Doctrine,  after  all  that  has  been  said,  has  its  place 
in  every  first-rate  life.  Its  place  is  at  the  founda- 
tion, and  not  at  the  capstone,  of  character.  "We 
avG  Christians,  not  that  we  may  have  right  doc- 
trines ;  but  we  need  right  doctrines  that  we  may 
be  strono:  Christians. 

o 

The  apostle  Paul  is  one  of  the  most  doctrinal 
writers  of  the  Bible,  and  he  is  one  of  the  most 
practical.  Everything  depends  upon  the  readers 
point  of  view.  In  almost  every  one  of  his  epistles 
he  begins  with  setting  forth  some  great  and  far- 
reaching  truth  about  God  and  man,  sin  and  re- 
demption. He  lays  the  foundations  of  the  Chris- 
tian life  deep  in  the  eternal  truths  of  God.  He 
wants  believers  to  be  rooted  and  grounded  in  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Upon  this  founda- 
tion he  then  builds  the  structure  of  a  full-rounded 
Christian  practice.  With  him  doctrine  builds  it- 
self up  into  life.     On  the  other  hand,  he  wants 


THE  GUIDE  BOOK.  71 

every  practical  duty  to  have  deep  and  strong 
foundations.  The  most  commonplace  and  ordi- 
nary duties  of  life  he  builds  upon  the  solid  and 
endurinsf  truths  of  God.  It  is  not  fashionable  in 
these  days  to  admire  the  Puritans  and  their  doc- 
trines. N'o  doubt  their  doctrines  were  often  hard 
and  narrow  and  rigid :  but  those  doctrines  put 
iron  into  men^s  blood,  and  made  strong  men,  strong 
to  endure,  and  brave  for  God.  The  writer  of  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews  had  scant  patience  with 
those  Christians  who  were  content  to  remain  for- 
ever in  the  spoon-victual  stage  of  development. 
He  wants  men  to  leave  the  first  principles  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ,  the  simple  elementary  duties 
of  life,  and  pass  on  and  up  into  manhood,  where 
they  may  partake  of  the  solid  and  strong  meat  of 
the  word. 

In  the  Scriptures  a  few  great  doctrines  or  topics 
stand  out  conspicuous  and  important.  Of  course, 
truth  is  one  thing  and  the  doctrine  of  the  truth 
is  quite  another.  God,  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit, 
sin,  redemption,  immortality  and  judgment  are 
great  realities.  To  attempt  to  put  these  great 
realities  into  a  doctrine  seems  almost  like  attempt- 
ing to  convey  the  aroma  of  the  rose  in  a  formula, 
or  to  paint  a  sunset  with  only  one  color.  But 
right  thought  goes  before  right  action.  So  every 
man  who  wants  to  build  up  a  strong  and  enduring 
character  will  build  upon  the  great  doctrines  of 
the  Scriptures.  He  will  learn  to  study  his  Bible 
by  topics,  and  gradually  he  will  find  that  a  body 


72  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

of  doctrine  is  building  itself  up  in  his  mind,  and 
is  determining  liis  thinking  in  all  realms  and  on 
all  questions.  "  Omnia  exeunt  in  theologiam/^ 
Men  are  too  easily  satisfied  with  taking  isolated 
texts  and  dwelling  on  them.  So  few  are  willing 
to  undergo  the  toil  necessary  to  compass  the  Bible 
as  a  whole.  Most  important  is  it,  that  he  who 
would  know  his  Bible  should  go  through  the  whole 
Bible  to  find  out  just  what  is  taught  there  on  the 
great  questions  of  life  and  destiny.  Why  should 
not  the  Christian  who  seeks  to  be  strong  in  faith 
and  conduct  make  an  attempt  to  grasp  the  great 
fundamental  truths  of  the  Bible,  for  the  sake  of 
faith  on  the  one  hand,  and  for  the  sake  of  con- 
duct on  the  other  ?  Paul  commends  Timothy, 
because  from  a  child  he  has  known  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  which  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto 
salvation,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  says 
also  that  Scripture  '^  is  profitable  for  reproof,  for 
correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness,  that 
the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect  thoroughly  fur- 
nished unto  all  good  works/^ 


CHAPTEE  III. 

THE  EOAD  OYER  CALVARY. 

I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ :  yet  I  Hve  ;  and  yet  no  longer 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me.— The  Apostle  Paul. 

Behold  !  in  the  cross  all  doth  consist,  and  all  lieth  in  our  dying 
thereon  ;  for  there  is  no  other  way  unto  life,  and  unto  true  inward 
peace  but  by  the  way  of  the  holy  cross,  and  of  daily  mortification. 

If  thou  bear  the  cross  cheerfully  it  will  bear  thee,  and  lead  thee 
to  the  desired  end,  namely,  where  there  shall  be  an  end  of  suffering 
though  here  there  shall  not  be. 

If  thou  bear  it  unwillingly,  thou  makestfor  thyself  a  burden,  and 
increasest  thy  load,  which  yet  notwithstanding  thou  must  bear.— 
Thomas  a  Kempis. 

The  cross  of  Christ  avails  thee  nothing  till  it  is  erected  in  thine 
own  life  also. — A  German  Mystic. 

liTTO  the  hands  of  Bunyan's  Pilgrim,  there  has 
come  a  book  which  greatly  interests  him.  This 
book  he  opens  and  reads  ;  and  as  he  reads  he  trem- 
bles and  weeps.  At  last  in  bitterness  of  soul  he 
cries  out,  "  AYhat  shall  I  do  ? ''  While  in  this 
troubled  state  he  meets  Evangelist,  who  points 
across  a  wide  field  to  a  wicket  gate  and  advises 
Christian  to  enter  there.  Various  false  advisers  for 
a  time  divert  Pilgrim  from  his  purpose  ;  but  their 
advice  brings  him  no  peace  ;  rather  shame  and 
misery.  The  great  burden  which  he  has  been 
carrying  becomes  heavier  and  heavier,  till  he  is 
almost   crushed   beneath  it.     Once  more,  on  the 

(73) 


74  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

counsel  of  Evangelist,  he  pursues  his  way  and 
conies  to  the  house  of  Interpreter.  Here  many 
things  are  made  plain  to  the  inquirer,  who  now  sets 
his  face  resolutely  toward  the  Celestial  City.  He 
is  shown  a  highway,  fenced  in  on  either  side  with  a 
wall,  and  that  wall  is  called  Salvation.  Up  this 
way  the  Pilgrim  runs,  hut  with  great  difficulty,  on 
account  of  the  heavy  load  upon  his  hack.  Soon 
along  this  climbing  way  he  comes  in  sight  of  a 
cross  upon  a  hill,  and  below  in  the  valley  a  sepul- 
chre. '^  So  I  saw  in  my  dream  that  just  as  Chris- 
tian came  up  with  the  cross  his  burden  loosed  from 
off  his  shoulders  and  fell  from  off  his  back,  and 
began  to  tumble,  and  so  continued  to  do  till  it 
came  to  the  mouth  of  the  sepulchre,  where  it 
fell  in,  and  I  saw  it  no  more."  Three  Shining 
Ones  salute  him ;  the  first  pronounces  words  of 
forgiveness  ;  the  second  clothes  him  in  bright  new 
raiment ;  and  the  third  sets  a  mark  upon  his  fore- 
head, and  gives  him  a  roll.  Then  Christian  gave 
three  leaps  for  joy,  and  went  on  his  way  singing 
with  glad  and  hopeful  heart. 

The  Christian  who  would  enter  into  the  new  life 
of  God  finds  that  his  way  leads  over  Calvary.  At 
the  foot  of  Christ's  cross  he  lays  down  his  burden 
of  guilt  and  shame,  and  takes  up  a  song  of  joy  and 
peace.  Through  the  blood  of  the  cross  he  is  de- 
livered from  the  power  and  penalty  of  sin,  and  is 
brought  near  to  God.  But  the  cross  is  more  than 
a  fact  once  met,  an  experience  once  known.  As 
the  seeker  after  life,  on  his  way,  he  bears  with  him 


THE  R OAJD  O VER  CA LVART.  75 

more  tlian  the  experience  of  a  fact  or  the  memory 
of  an  experience.  The  cross  once  a  fact  which 
brought  peace  and  hope^  now  becomes  a  daily 
experience  and  a  law  of  life.  The  Christian 
thinks  of  Christ's  cross,  and  finds  deliverance 
and  life  through  it.  The  Lord  Jesus  speaks  of 
the  disciple\s  cross,  and  calls  upon  the  Christian 
to  take  up  that  cross  and  bear  it  daily.  In  a  word, 
the  disciple  knows  the  cross  as  a  fact  and  bears  it 
daily  as  an  experience.  The  Christian  doctrine  of 
the  cross  makes  that  cross  at  once  the  means  of 
salvation  and  the  law  of  life  for  man.  These  two 
aspects  of  the  cross  let  us  now  consider  in  their 
bearing  upon  the  life  and  character  of  the  Chris- 
tian disciple.  Xo  attempt  is  made  to  explain  the 
theological  doctrine  of  the  atonement ;  my  pur- 
pose is  to  show  the  bearing  of  this  truth  upon 
Christian  life  and  character. 

I.  The  Cross  of   Christ  is  the  Meaj^s  of 

OUR  EEDEMPTIOi^  FROM  THE  PoWER  AND  PeK"- 
ALTY    OF    SiN". 

Three  things  are  wrought  by  the  cross.  It  re- 
veals God  to  the  world  ;  it  delivers  man  from  sin  ; 
and  by  it  God  and  man  are  brought  together. 

1.  The  cross  reveals  God  to  the  world.  Back 
of  the  cross  of  Christ  is  the  deepest  fact  of  the 
universe.  This  world  of  ours  was  framed  to  bear 
a  cross.  The  cross  of  wood  laid  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  Son  of  man  is  but  the  shadow  of  that 
older  cross  which  the  Son  of  God  bore  upon  his 


76  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

heart  from  all  eternity.  The  Lamb  slain  outside 
the  city  gates  was  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world.  He  who  walked  the  streets  of 
Nazareth  and  Capernaum,  who  agonized  in  the 
garden  and  toiled  up  Calvary,  was  set  apart  for 
that  work  before  the  morning  stars  sang  together. 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  is  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of 
God.  In  fact,  Jesus  Christ  is  the  author  and  me- 
dium of  creation.  The  Son  of  God  was  in  the 
world  long  before  his  manifestation  as  the  Son  of 
man.  Very  plain  is  the  statement,  ''  In  him  were 
all  things  created,  in  the  heavens  and  upon  the 
earth,  things  visible  and  things  invisible,  whether 
thrones,  or  dominions  or  principalities,  or  powers  ; 
all  things  have  been  created  through  him,  and  unto 
him  ;  and  he  is  before  all  things,  and  in  him  all 
things  consist"  (Col.  i.  IG,  17).  When  we  speak 
of  Christ  coming  into  the  world  we  do  not  mean 
that  then  and  there  in  that  historic  event  we  call 
the  incarnation,  those  relations  began  in  the  God- 
head which  we  know  as  Father  and  Son.  We 
only  mean  that  in  that  historic  event  these  eternal 
relations  are  manifested  to  the  world. 

The  whole  creation  is  God's  self-manifestation 
in  Jesus  Christ  as  love  and  holiness.  Why  God 
should  have  chosen  to  create  such  a  world  as  this, 
with  such  sinful  and  i^ainful  possibilities,  let  us 
say  frankly  we  do  not  know.  We  know,  however, 
because  we  know  that  God  is  good,  that  it  is  not 
only  the  best  possible  universe,  but  the  only  pos- 


THE  ROAD  OVER  CALVARY.  77 

sible  universe  for  the  object  God  has  in  view. 
Why  God  should  create  a  universe  subject  to  the 
bondage  of  corruption,  and  thus  impose  upon 
himself  the  necessity  of  sacrifice,  we  do  not  know. 
After  all,  when  does  God  appear  most  divine  ? 
When  does  his  glory  shine  out  most  brightly  ?  Is 
it  when  angels  bow  and  seraphim  veil  their  faces  ? 
^0,  no  ;  but  when  he  gives  himself  for  his  crea- 
tures. We  say  that  a  mother  loves  her  children  ; 
what  do  we  mean  by  the  words  ?  And  when  does 
the  mother  show  most  love  for  her  children  ;  when 
is  she  most  the  mother  ?  Is  it  when  the  children 
gather  around  her  knee  to  look  their  love  and 
gratitude  into  her  eyes  ?  That  is  indeed  a  beauti- 
ful sight ;  but  not  in  this  way  can  we  know  the 
depths  and  heights  of  a  mother^s  love.  But  see 
her  now  with  sleepless  eye  and  tireless  hand  watch- 
ing day  and  night  beside  her  sick  and  suffering 
child.  Or  see  her  as  she  sets  the  light  in  the  win- 
dow to  welcome  her  prodigal  daughter  home.  Or, 
see  her  as  she  goes  out  after  her  wayward  boy,  fol- 
lowing him  to  his  haunts  of  sin,  and  pleading  with 
him  to  leave  these  evil  ways.  God  is  never  so 
truly  and  fully  God  as  when  he  sacrifices  and  suf- 
fers for  his  needy  creatures.  Eevelation  has  been 
given  to  make  us  see  that  God  is  love  and  holiness. 
Love  can  only  be  shown  in  all  its  fullness  in  the 
presence  of  things  that  hurt  and  wound  love. 
Holiness  can  only  be  revealed  in  its  inner  nature 
in  a  deathless  passion  for  truth  and  righteousness. 
Suppose,  for  a  moment,  that  God  had  never  created 


78  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

this  world  at  all.  Suppose  that  this  world  had  not 
been  made  subject  to  vanity  and  corruption.  Cal- 
vary had  then  been  without  its  cross,  and  the  Son 
of  God  without  his  wounds.  But  we  say  it  rever- 
ently, the  universe  had  been  unspeakably,  immeas- 
urably poorer.  We  never  would  have  known  the 
interior  nature  of  God ;  we  would  never  have 
known  the  meaning  of  love  and  holiness.  And  it 
is  true,  as  Browning  says  : 

"  The  loving  worm  within  its  clod 
Were  diviner  far  than  a  loveless  God, 
Amid  his  worlds,  I  will  dare  to  say." 

But  in  Jesus  Christ,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
in  his  acceptance  of  the  cross  and  his  sacrifice  for 
man,  the  universe  has  had  a  glimpse  into  the  very 
heart  of  God.  Through  the  cross  of  Calvary  there 
has  come  to  the  universe  a  revelation  of  God  so 
full,  so  glorious,  as  to  make  all  conscious  beings 
taste  the  ecstacy  and  beauty  of  the  inner  knowl- 
edge of  God. 

The  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  reveals  God  as  love 
and  holiness.  And  these  are  final  truths  about 
God.  Men  have  sometimes  spoken  as  if  they 
found  in  Christ  qualities  that  were  not  to  be  found 
in  God.  They  have  sjDoken  as  if  they  feared  that 
the  Son  of  man  were  more  loving  and  compassion- 
ate than  the  eternal  Father.  But  the  love  and 
self-sacrifice  of  Christ  were  the  love  and  self-sacri- 
fice of  God.  The  cross  shows  us  God  himself 
bearing  the  sins  of  the  world  upon  his  heart,  and 


THE  ROAD  OVER  CALVARY.  79 

sacrificing  himself  for  the  good  of  his  creatures. 
Love,  by  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  seeks  the 
good  of  the  one  loved,  and  is  willing  to  make  any 
sacrifices  for  the  other's  sake.  Love  says  :  '^  Let 
me  share  your  burden  ;  let  me  bear  pain  that  yon 
may  escape."  God  is  love,  says  John,  as  if  love 
were  a  final  and  elemental  fact  of  Godhead ;  and 
it  is.  Love  is  the  very  essence  of  his  being ;  it 
lies  at  the  root  of  all  his  attributes  ;  it  shines  out 
in  all  his  dealings  with  the  children  of  men.  The 
sunbeam  strikes  a  rain  drop  and  we  have  the  seven 
colors  of  the  rainbow.  But  the  seven  rays  are  all 
elements  of  the  one  blessed  light.  Love  gives 
great  hostages.     Pain  is  inseparable  from  love. 

"  Oh,  the  hurt,  the  hurt  of  love  ! 
Wherever  the  sun  shines,  the  waters  go. 
It  hurts  the  snowdrop,  it  hurts  the  dove, 
God  on  his  throne,  and  man  below." 

"Would  a  man  know  how  great  is  the  love  of  God 
for  sinful  men  ?  Would  he  know  how  great  is 
God's  passion  for  holiness  ?  Would  he  know  how 
infinitely  he  hates  sin  ?  Would  he  know  how 
urgent  is  his  demand  for  righteousness  ?  Let  him 
look  upon  the  cross  of  Christ  and  he  shall  know. 
To  see  and  believe  the  love  of  God  is  the  first  step 
toward  salvation.  To  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ 
whom  he  has  sent  is  eternal  life. 

2.  The  cross  brings  deliverance  to  man  from  the 
dominion  of  sin.  The  cross  is  such  a  potent  thing 
because  of  its  power  to  loose  men  from  their  sins 


80  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

and  to  give  them  hope.  ^'Sin  well  discovered  to 
a  man,"  said  good  Archbishop  Leighton,  "  is  half 
cured."  The  cross  of  Christ  shows  the  moral  con- 
dition of  the  world  as  nothing  else  can.  ^^Sin/' 
we  are  told,  is  the  "  transgression  of  the  law." 
Yes,  but  it  is  the  law  of  God  ;  and  law  is  the  ex- 
pression of  his  being.  Sin,  in  the  last  analysis,  is 
an  offence  against  God  ;  it  is  hatred  of  the  light ; 
it  is  the  child  refusing  the  will  of  the  father.  The 
law  given  through  Moses  had  done  much  to  con- 
vince the  world  of  sin  ;  but  the  cross  of  Christ 
does  more.  We  never  knew  what  sin  was  till  we 
saw  it  crucifying  the  Son  of  God.  Around  the 
cross  surges  that  mocking,  taunting,  hooting 
crowd,  reviling  the  sufferer,  spitting  in  his  face, 
and  laughing  at  his  agony.  What  has  he  done 
that  he  should  be  thus  hated,  and  taunted,  and 
scourged  ?  Nothing  ;  men  are  hating  him  without 
a  cause,  and  mocking  him  without  a  reason.  The 
world^s  treatment  of  Jesus  Christ  is  simply  the  full 
expression  of  the  sin  in  the  heart  of  man.  This 
One  who  hangs  upon  the  cross  was  full  of  grace 
and  truth  ;  he  went  about  doing  good,  comforting 
the  sorrowing,  seeking  the  outcast,  cheering  the 
discouraged,  counselling  the  wayward,  telling  men 
of  the  Father  in  heaven.  We  might  suppose  that 
every  man  would  at  once  love  this  Christ  and  honor 
his  life.  Among  them  walked  Incarnate  Good- 
ness and  Love  ;  before  them  stood  Perfect  Truth 
and  Life.  You  know  what  men  did  with  this 
Christ,  the  very  life  and  love  of  God  ;  they  refused 


THE  ROAD  OVER  CALVARY.  81 

him,  they  ridiculed  him,  they  hated  him,  they  ad- 
judged him  guilty  of  blasphemy,  they  sent  him  to 
the  cross  as  a  malefactor.  By  so  doing  they  have 
put  upon  record  forever  this  fact  :  the  human 
heart  is  enmity  against  God  and  is  far  gone  from 
the  way  of  his  holiness.  Sin  is  not  an  innocent, 
harmless  thing ;  it  is  hatred  of  the  light ;  it  is 
hatred  of  the  good  ;  it  is  night  refusing  the  sun  ; 
it  is  a  blow  at  God's  throne.  It  was  sin  that  sent* 
Jesus  Christ  to  the  cross,  my  sin,  your  sin.  Sin 
is  the  same  thing  in  me  as  sin  in  the  Pharisee. 
The  sin  in  Caiaphas  and  the  sin  in  you  springs 
from  the  same  taproot  :  it  is  all  of  one  piece.  The 
forms  of  manifestations  of  sin  may  be  different  in 
different  men,  but  its  real  nature  is  the  same. 
The  cross  rebukes  our  selfishness,  our  frivolity,  our 
carnality,  our  petty  aims,  our  unworthy  deeds,  our 
sinful  hearts.  Oh,  the  power  of  that  cross  to  con- 
vince men  of  sin  !  How  it  burns  with  the  holiness 
of  God  !  How  the  sight  of  that  cross  burns  the 
conviction  of  sin  deep  into  the  heart  and  conscience 
of  man  ! 

But  if  the  power  of  the  cross  stopped  here,  it 
would  fail  us  at  the  most  vital  point.  Along  with 
this  there  comes  through  the  cross  a  deliverance 
from  the  power  of  sin  over  the  heart  and  life.  We 
look  upon  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  we  read  there 
the  infinite  love  of  God  for  men.  We  see  in  the 
agony  of  the  dying  Saviour  how  the  heart  of  the 
Eternal  Father  yearns  over  us  with  an  infinite 
compassion.  And  we  see  also  how  our  sins  nailed 
6 


82  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

him  to  that  tree  ;  haw  he  takes  upon  himself  otir 
guilt ;  how  he  is  wounded  for  our  iniquities  ;  how 
the  chastisement  of  our  peace  is  upon  him.  We 
see  him  by  the  grace  of  God  tasting  death  for  every 
man,  and  being  made  sin  for  us,  this  One  who 
knew  no  sin.  Against  the  thunders  of  Sinai  w^e 
knew  how  to  dull  our  ears  ;  under  the  rebukes  of 
God  we  knew  how  to  harden  our  hearts.  But 
there,  beside  the  cross,  the  love  looking  forth  from 
the  Saviour's  eyes  speaks  right  home  to  our  hearts. 
What  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak, 
the  cross  has  done.  We  see  ourselves  just  as  we 
are ;  we  abhor  ourselves  for  our  sins  ;  the  flood 
gates  of  the  soul  are  opened,  and  the  tears  of 
repentance  flow.  We  fall  at  the  pierced  feet  and 
cry  :  "  Lord  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner. '^  IsTo 
one  can  put  this  truth  better  than  it  has  been  put 
by  good  John  Newton  in  that  matchless  hymn  :— 

"  I  saw  One  hanging  on  a  tree, 
In  agony  and  blood  ; 
Who  fixed  his  languid  eyes  on  me, 
As  near  the  cross  I  stood. 

*'  Sure,  never,  till  my  latest  breath, 
Can  I  forget  that  look  ; 
It  seemed  to  charge  me  with  his  death, 
Though  not  a  word  he  spoke. 

"  Alas,  I  know  not  what  I  did — 
But  now  my  tears  are  vain  ; 
Where  shall  my  trembling  soul  be  hid  ? 
For  I  the  Lord  have  slain  ! 


THE  ROAD  OVER  CALVARY.  83 

**  A  second  look  he  gave,  that  said  : 
"  I  freely  all  forgive  ; 
This  blood  is  for  thy  ransom  paid  ; 
I  die  that  thou  mayst  live." 

"  Thus,  while  his  death  my  sin  displays, 
In  all  its  blackest  hue  ; 
Such  is  the  mystery  of  grace, 
It  seals  my  pardon,  too  !" 

At  the  sight  of  the  cross  we  see  our  sin,  and  in 
sincere  repentance  we  put  it  away.  And  the  chains 
of  sin  drop  off  from  our  emancipated  soul,  and  we 
rise  up  the  Lord^s  free  man.  Our  affections  are 
given  a  new  direction  ;  our  wills  are  renewed  ;  and 
we  are  new  men  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  dominion  of 
sin  over  the  life  is  broken,  a  new  master  of  our  will 
appears,  the  conscience  is  purged  from  dead  works 
to  serve  the  living  God. 

3.  And  the  cross  brings  God  and  man  together. 
The  work  of  Christ  for  man  sums  itself  up  in  this 
reconciliation  of  God  and  man.  God  is  the  high 
and  holy  One,  who  cannot  look  upon  sin  with  the 
least  degree  of  allowance ;  man  is  by  act  and  choice 
a  sinner.  To  bring  God  and  man  together  on 
terms  of  fellowship  and  peace  is  the  work  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  world.  God  cannot  overlook  sin  nor 
treat  it  indifferently.  He  cannot  bless  the  soul  so 
long  as  it  continues  in  sin. 

Suppose  that  a  man  who  has  been  living  in  sin 
at  last  comes  to  see  the  error  and  folly  of  his  way  ; 
suppose  also  that  he  resolves  to  change  his  course 
and   do   differently.     Has  everything  been  done 


84  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

that  needs  to  be  done  ?  Has  he  fully  satisfied  every 
claim  upon  his  life  ?  By  no  means.  The  mere 
resolve  to  leave  one  way  and  to  walk  in  another 
does  not  bring  ]3eace  to  the  troubled  conscience. 
For  we  are  not  alone  in  this  transaction  :  ^'  There 
is  another  factor  in  this  problem  greater  than  I. 
I  have  done  more  than  wrong  myself.  As  a  crea- 
ture I  have  wronged  my  Creator.  I  have  sinned 
against  the  laws  ordained  by  him  for  the  health 
and  comfort  of  my  body.  I  have  sinned  against 
the  image  of  God  in  my  soul,  putting  it  to  shame 
in  this  subjection  to  bestial  appetite  ;  and  I  can- 
not looJi  God  in  the  face.  I  have  no  right  to  for- 
give myself.  I  cannot  forgive  myself.  God  would 
have  to  die  first.  Eternity  would  have  to  end 
first "  (Eoswell  D.  Hitchcock  :  Eternal  Atone- 
ment, p.  20).  Before  man  can  be  at  peace,  satis- 
faction must  be  rendered  to  the  law  of  God  which 
has  been  violated.  The  righteous  will  of  God 
must  be  honored  ;  and  man  must  come  into  right 
relations  with  that  law.  Three  elements  enter 
into  this  experience  of  reconciliation.  There  is 
the  repentant  one  turning  unto  God  and  putting 
away  his  sin  ;  on  the  part  of  God  there  is  the 
Fatlierly  acceptance  and  pardon  of  the  soul ;  there 
is  the  mutual  relation  that  follows  in  which  there 
is  an  imparting  by  God  and  a  receiving  by  man  of 
grace  and  power  by  which  God  and  man  live  to- 
gether in  vital  fellowship.  Thus  the  man  who 
once  lived  in  sin,  being  dead  unto  God,  by  nature 
the  child  of  wrath,  is  quickened  by  grace,  brought 


THE  ROAD  OVER  CALVARY.  85 

near  by  Christ  and  reconciled  unto  God  by  tlie 
blood  of  the  cross.  This  union  with  God  through 
Jesus  Christ  is  salvation.  Express  it  as  men  will, 
the  cross  stands  for  the  greatest  fact  in  life  ;  before 
that  cross  the  burden  of  sin  is  loosed  from  off 
man^s  shoulders  ;  through  that  cross  man  is  recon- 
ciled unto  God  ;  in  that  cross  the  covenant  of  God 
and  man  is  sealed. 

II.  The  Ckoss  is  the  Disciple's  Law  of  Life. 

1.  The  being  of  God  which  finds  expression  in  the 
sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  law  of  life  for  every 
creature.  The  being  of  God  is  the  law  of  the 
universe.  And  sacrificial  love  is  the  deepest  fact 
of  Godhead.  God  cannot  have  one  law  for  himself 
and  another  for  his  creatures.  The  Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world  shows  us  that 
sacrificial  love  is  the  law  of  the  very  throne  of 
God.  This  law  Christ  honors  in  his  life  and  death 
and  establishes  as  the  law  of  life  for  every  creature. 
The  necessity  of  the  cross  is  upon  everything  that 
God  has  made.  The  cross  is  more  than  ah  his- 
toric fact ;  it  is  the  expression  of  the  law  of  the 
universe.  The  Lord  Jesus  has  laid  down  the  con- 
dition of  discipleship  :  "^^  If  any  man  would  come 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his 
cross  daily,  and  follow  me.'"  Another  time  he  said 
to  the  disciples:  ^*^As  my  Father  hath  sent  me 
into  the  world,  even  so  send  I  you."  That  law 
which  Jesus  honors  in  his  life  and  death  he  estab- 
lishes as  the  law  of  life  for  every  disciple. 


86  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

The  disciple  is  not  greater  than  his  Lord. 
Every  man  who  would  live  in  Jesus  Christ  must 
take  up  his  cross,  bear  it  out  to  Calvary,  and  die 
upon  it.  The  cross  of  Christ  is  not  a  substitute 
for  the  cross  of  the  disciple ;  it  is  the  type,  the 
pattern,  the  power  of  that  cross  which  every  dis- 
ciple is  to  bear  for  the  sake  of  the  world.  The 
real  Christian  life  is  a  repetition  of  Christ's  life. 
This  human  meaning  of  the  cross  has  been  almost 
overlooked  in  the  life  and  thought  of  men.  Men 
have  thought  of  Christ's  cross  and  have  rested  in 
it  ;  Christ  thinks  of  our  cross,  and  calls  upon  us 
to  take  it  up  and  follow  him  out  to  Calvary.  The 
cross  of  Christ  has  profited  a  man  nothing  until  it 
has  been  erected  in  his  own  heart  as  the  law  of 
life. 

**  Though  Christ  a  thousand  times, 
In  Bethlehem  be  born  ; 
If  he's  not  born  in  thee, 

Thy  soul  is  still  forlorn  ; 
The  cross  of  Golgotha 

Can  never  save  thy  soul, — 
The  cross  in  thine  own  heart 
Alone  can  make  thee  whole." 

The  New  Testament  writings  are  full  of  this 
great  truth.  Paul  affirms  that  he  is  crucified  with 
Christ ;  he  speaks  of  himself  as  a  partner  in  the 
sufferings  of  Christ ;  he  tells  us  that  the  old  man 
is  crucified  with  Christ  that  the  body  of  sin  might 
be  destroyed.  Writing  to  the  Corinthians  he 
speaks  once  more  of  himself  as  one  who  always 
bears  about  in  his  body  the  dying  of  the  Lord 


THE  ROAD  OVER  CALVARY.  87 

Jesus.  John  tells  us  that  in  this  we  perceive  the 
love  of  God  for  us,  because  he  laid  down  his  life 
for  us  ;  and  he  makes  this  the  reason  why  we 
should  lay  down  our  lives  for  others.  It  is  easy, 
of  course,  to  say  that  these  are  but  figures  of 
speech  ;  but  that  is  just  what  they  are  not.  No  ; 
they  stand  for  the  most  real  and  literal  experi- 
ences of  life.  We  have  no  more  right  to  explain 
them  away  as  figurative  than  we  have  to  make  the 
cross  of  Christ  a  figure  of  speech.  These  words 
mean  that  just  as  Christ  Jesus  honored  the  law  of 
God  in  his  life  and  gave  himself  in  sacrifice  for 
us,  so  we  are  to  honor  that  law,  and  to  give  our 
lives  in  sacrifice  for  others.  We  are  saved  through 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ ;  now  we  are  to  go  out  into 
the  world  of  sinful  men  and  offer  ourselves  in 
sacrifice  for  them  that  they  may  know  God  and 
Jesus  Christ  whom  he  has  sent.  Jesus  Christ  had 
the  same  call  to  bear  the  cross  that  every  disciple 
has  ;  and  no  other.  Surely  if  any  one  had  a  right 
to  the  palace  and  the  feast,  to  the  life  of  ease  and 
honor,  it  was  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God's 
love.  "  But  even  Christ  pleased  not  himself.'' 
The  necessity  of  the  cross  was  upon  him. 

2.  Discipleship  always  and  everywhere  means  ex- 
actly the  same  thing.  You  and  I  must  face  the 
same  conditions  that  faced  men  in  Capernaum,  in 
Corinth,  Ephesus,  or  Rome.  The  needle's  eye 
has  grown  no  larger  in  the  passing  centuries. 
Whoever  would  follow  Christ  to  the  throne  must 
deny  himself,  take  up  his  cross,  and  become  a 


88  THE  Ninv  CITIZENSHIP. 

partner  in  Christ^s  sacrifice.  He  in  whose  life 
there  is  no  Calvary,  no  self  is  crucified  and  God's 
will  not  honored,  knows  not  the  inner  meaning 
and  divine  power  of  the  Christian  life.  Many 
people  live  in  the  delusion  that  the  cross  of  Christ 
is  a  substitute  for  any  cross  on  their  part.  But 
the  self-denying,  self-sacrificing  life  is  the  only 
kind  of  life  that  any  man  has  a  moral  right  and  a 
divine  warrant  to  live  in  this  world  of  sin  and 
suffering.  The  disciple  is  called  to  fill  up  in  his 
body  the  measure  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ ;  he 
is  to  repeat  forever  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary  ;  he  is 
to  be  crucified  with  Christ.  To  many  people,  I 
know,  this  old  simple  truth  of  the  gospel  comes  as 
some  new  and  strange  doctrine.  But  it  is  the 
very  essence  of  the  cross  of  Christ ;  it  is  the  truth 
that  has  been  preached  from  the  beginning.  And 
this  is  a  truth  that  needs  to  be  burned  deep  into 
the  heart  and  consciences  of  men  to-day.  For 
alas,  the  cross  in  its  real  meaning  has  become  an 
offense  to  many  who  hope  to  be  saved  by  it.  Not 
yet  has  the  offense  of  the  cross  ceased.  Many 
people  do  not  like  this  gospel  of  the  cross ;  they 
prefer  some  easier  road  to  glory ;  tliey  are  quite 
willing  to  hear  of  Christ's  cross,  but  they  do  not 
want  to  hear  of  their  own  cross.  The  cross  is  the 
law  by  which  Jesus  lived,  and  it  is  the  law  by 
w^hich  he  asks  his  disciple  to  live.  The  cross  is 
therefore  not  life's  burden  and  accident,  but  life's 
law  and  glory.  Remember  the  word  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  how  he  said  :  '^  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than 


THE  ROAD  OVER  CALVARY.  89 

to  receive/'  Do  yon  suppose  that  Jesus  taught 
that  without  first  doing  it  himself  ?  Do  you  sup- 
pose that  God  put  that  impulse  into  the  heart  of 
Christ,  but  himself  finds  it  more  blessed  to  receive 
than  to  give  ?  The  necessity  of  the  cross  is  upon 
every  creature.  As  Christians  we  have  the  same 
right  to  please  ourselves,  to  spend  money  as  we 
like,  to  eat  what  we  choose,  to  live  in  a  palace, 
that  Christ  had  ;  and  no  other  right  than  he.  As 
Christians  we  shall  find  our  blessedness  where 
Jesus  found  his— in  honoring  the  law  of  God  and 
in  giving  himself  for  others  ;  and  we  shall  find  it 
nowhere  else.  The  cross  was  no  figure  of  speech 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  ;  and  it  is  no  figure  of  speech  to 
the  Christian  disciple.  How  many  lives  can  be 
told  in  these  words  : 

"  I  lived  for  myself,  I  thought  for  myself, 
For  myself,  and  none  beside  ; 
Just  as  if  Jesus  had  never  lived — 
As  if  he  had  never  died." 

The  Christian  is  Christ  continued— j:he  divine 
incarnation  made  permanent,  increased,  carried 
along ;  the  cross  of  Christ  is  the  type  and  power 
and  expression  of  that  sacrifice  which  every  crea- 
ture is  called  to  make.  Through  the  cross  of 
Christ  we  are  delivered  from  the  old  bondage  of 
sin  and  self,  and  are  reconciled  to  the  person  and 
will  of  God.  We  are  brought  into  union  with 
Jesus  Christ,  that  we  may  live  his  life.  Jesus 
Christ  cannot  have  one  law  for  himself  and  an- 


90  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

other  law  for  his  disciples.     He  has  given  ns  an 
example  that  we  should  do  as  he  has  done. 

3.  The  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  teaches  us  that  we 
are  to  organize  life  on  the  basis  of  love  and  sacrifice. 
The  law  of  the  cross  is  the  only  law  which  the 
throne  of  God  honors.  If  any  man  is  not  willing 
to  deny  himself,  take  up  his  cross  daily  and  follow 
Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.  And  the  law  of  the 
cross  is  universal  in  its  sweep  and  all-inclusive  in 
its  requirement.  The  necessity  of  the  cross  is 
upon  everything  that  God  has  made.  The  law  of 
the  cross  is  the  law  for  men,  for  societies,  for 
churches,  for  stock  exchanges,  for  railroad  com- 
panies, for  political  parties,  for  halls  of  legislation, 
for  international  treaties.  This  law,  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say,  is  not  generally  accepted  to-day. 
Men  have  more  or  less  applied  it  to  their  personal 
lives,  to  their  churches,  and  to  their  families. 
But  men  have  hardly  begun  to  suspect  that  it  is 
the  law  for  the  mill,  the  political  party,  and  the 
railroad  company.  A  railroad  company  has  no 
more  right  to  plan  for  dividends  alone  than  a 
church  or  a  family.  A  political  party  has  no 
more  liberty  to  forget  the  decalogue  and  the  ser- 
mon on  the  mount  than  a  missionary  society.  It 
is  as  bad  to  be  selfish  and  mercenary  in  the  store 
as  in  the  house  of  prayer.  The  missionary  has  no 
greater  call  to  live  the  sacrificial  life  than  the 
merchant.  The  minister  has  no  more  urgent 
obligation  to  sink  personal  interests  out  of  sight 
than  the  politician.    Self-interest  is  the  law  which 


THE  BO  AD  OVER  CALVARY,  91 

Satan  asserts  in  Cain ;  self-sacrifice  is  the  law 
which  Grod  reveals  in  Christ.  And  the  problem 
of  every  life,  of  ever}^  institution,  of  every  nation 
is  simply  this  :  Shall  Christ  reign  or  Cain  ?  The 
law  of  self-interest,  which  is  the  law  of  death,  asks  : 
Am  I  my  brother^s  keeper  ?  It  says  :  Every  man 
must  look  out  for  himself.  Selfishness  is  the 
basis  of  economic  activity.  Competition  is  the 
law  of  industry.  Life  is  a  struggle  for  existence, 
and  the  strong  survive.  Ajid  right  into  this  world 
comes  Jesus  Christ  to  assert  another  law,  and  by 
his  cross  to  establish  another  principle  of  life. 
The  old  law  of  self-interest  said  :  "  Every  man  must 
look  out  for  himself,  and  get  all  he  can."  The  new 
law  of  God  says  :  "  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens, 
and  so  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ. "  The  old  law  of 
competition  said  :  ''  Life  is  a  battle  for  supremacy, 
and  every  man  must  take  care  of  himself."  The 
new  law  of  Christ  says  :  '^  Look  not  every  man  on 
his  own  things,  but  every  man  also  on  the  things 
of  others. '' 

The  Christian  Citizen  is  in  the  world,  but  he  is 
not  of  the  world.  He  does  not  ask  to  be  taken  out 
of  the  world,  but  he  asks  rather  that  he  may  be  kept 
from  the  evil  of  the  world.  He  repudiates  the  law 
of  Cain  and  accepts  the  law  of  Christ.  He  desires 
to  follow  Christ ;  so  he  denies  himself,  takes  up 
his  cross  daily,  and  makes  the  cross  the  law  of  his 
life.  He  seeks  to  organize  life  in  the  home,  in  the 
state,  in  the  church,  in  society,  on  the  basis  of  the 
cross.     He  knows  that  nothing  but  the  cross  can 


92  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

save  the  world.  Nothing  but  the  cross  can  save 
society  from  dissokition  and  anarchy.  Nothing 
but  the  blood  of  the  cross  can  bind  the  race  together 
in  a  solidarity  of  redemption  and  peace.  The  cross 
is  God^s  answer  to  the  problems  of  society.  Let  the 
citizen  in  his  business  relations  resolve  to  reckon 
himself  dead  unto  self  and  alive  unto  Christ ;  let 
him  resolve  to  conduct  all  his  commercial  transac- 
tions according  to  the  law  of  the  cross.  He  may  fail 
to  make  money  ;  he  may  succeed  in  doing  so.  He 
is  not  here  to  make  money,  but  to  glorify  Jesus 
Christ.  Let  the  New  Citizen  in  his  political  life 
reckon  himself  dead  unto  the  standards  of  men  who 
regard  public  office  as  a  place  of  honor  and  j)raise, 
and  let  him  make  his  political  privilege  an  altar  for 
the  offering  of  spiritual  sacrifices  unto  God.  He 
may  never  be  chosen  to  the  highest  offices  ;  or  he 
may  become  the  hero  of  a  nation  ;  it  does  not 
matter  either  way.  He  is  not  here  to  gain  position 
but  to  hold  up  the  cross  in  the  sight  of  all  men.  The 
cross  is  a  real  thing,  a  potent  thing.  Oh,  believe 
that.  Forever  that  cross,  when  erected,  becomes 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  men  and  to  so- 
ciety. We  cannot  regenerate  society  by  each  man 
living  for  himself.  AVe  cannot  reform  politics  by 
making  a  ring  to  break  a  ring.  How  can  Satan  cast 
out  Satan  ?  The  cross  is  God^s  answer  to  our  cry 
for  help;  the  cross  is  God^s  way  of  saving  the  world  : 
and  there  is  no  other.     And  the  cross  will  do  it. 

Brother  Citizen,   do  not  turn  back  saying  that 
the  road  is  too  hard  and  the  cross  too  heavy.     The 


THE  BO  AD  OVER  CALVARY,  93 

most  tragic  mistake  you  can  make  is  to  suppose 
that  the  way  of  the  cross  is  a  hard  and  bitter  road. 
Do  you  sui3pose  that  the  law  of  the  throne  of  God, 
the  law  which  God  honors,  and  Christ  fulfills,  and 
the  cross  establishes,  is  a  hard  and  bitter  thing  ? 
The  Lord  Jesus  found  it  more  blessed  to  give  than 
to  receive.  Do  you  suppose  that  you  will  ever 
find  it  more  blessed  to  receive  than  to  give  ?  The 
Son  of  man  found  it  his  meat  and  drink  to  do  the 
will  of  the  Father  in  heaven  ?  Do  you  suppose 
that  you  will  ever  find  it  meat  and  drink  to  do 
your  own  will  ?  The  Son  of  God  foresaw  the  cross 
and  embraced  it  with  joy,  saying  :  *^  I  delight  to 
do  thy  will,  0  my  God.'^  Do  you  suppose  that 
you  will  ever  find  it  a  blessed  thing  to  escape  that 
cross  ?  Jesus  Christ  for  the  joy  that  was  set  be- 
fore him,  endured  the  cross  and  despised  the 
shame.  God  is  love  ;  and  love  is  God.  Be  sure 
of  this,  that  the  selfish,  self-seeking  life  is  not 
worth  the  living.  The  law  of  the  cross,  which 
was  the  law  of  life  for  the  Lord  Jesus,  must  be  a 
blessed  thing  for  every  man,  for  every  angel,  for 
every  world.  The  man  who  has  once  tasted  the 
real  meaning  of  the  cross  has  tasted  the  very  ecstasy 
of  God.  The  will  of  God  revealed  in  the  cross  of 
Christ  is  the  best  and  brightest  and  sweetest  thing 
for  every  creature.  That  cross  is  not  lifers  burden, 
and  accident,  and  sorrow,  but  life's  joy,  and  glory, 
and  crown.  The  cross,  once  well  known  in  a 
man's  life,  in  all  its  power  and  meaning,  makes  all 
lower  things  but  dross  for  evermore. 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

THE   Iiq'i^EK   KOOM. 

But  thou,  when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when 
thou  hast  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret ;  and 
thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall  reward  thee  openly.— Jesus 
Christ. 

Prayer  is  the  spiritual  balm  which  restores  to  us  peace  and  cour- 
age. It  reminds  us  of  pardon  and  of  duty.  It  says  to  us,  Thou  art 
loved— love  ;  thou  hast  received— give  ;  thou  must  die— labor  while 
thou  canst ;  overcome  anger  with  kindness ;  overcome  evil  with 
good. — Henri-Frederic  Amiel. 

Prayer  is  the  nearest  approach  to  God,  and  the  highest  enjoy- 
ment of  him  that  we  are  capable  of  in  this  life. 

It  is  the  noblest  exercise  of  the  soul,  the  most  exalted  use  of  our 
best  faculties,  and  the  highest  imitation  of  the  blessed  inhabitants 
of  heaven.— William  Law. 

Sevekal  years  ago  thinking  men  became  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  of  preserving  the 
Adirondack  forests  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Scientific  men  explained  that  the  preservation  of 
these  forests  was  necessary  in  order  to  maintain 
the  proper  flow  of  water  in  the  Hudson  Eiver,  the 
great  commercial  highway  of  the  state.  This 
river  in  its  course  furnishes  power  to  countless 
mills  and  factories,  and  adds  incalculably  to  the 
wealth  of  the  people.  Yet  this  river  is  in  danger 
of  losing  its  power  and  prestige.  Up  among  the 
hills  and  mountains  are  the  great  trees  with  their 
(94) 


THE  INNER  ROOM.  95 

countless  leaves  that  shade  the  ground  and  keep  it 
moist  and  cool.  On  every  hillside  and  in  every 
valley  are  little  bubbling  springs  ;  from  each  spring 
a  narrow  thread  of  silver  goes  sparkling  down  over 
stones  and  under  moss ;  now  it  is  met  by  another 
thread  of  silvery  water  ;  on  they  go  together,  lost 
in  one  another^s  life  ;  now  the  thread  grows  into  a 
rill,  the  rill  becomes  a  brook,  the  brook  swells  into 
a  creek,  the  creek  widens  out  into  the  majestic 
and  beautiful  Hudson.  The  drying  up  of  those 
numberless  springs  far  away  in  the  mountains 
means  the  dwindling  of  a  great  river.  The  mighty 
and  majestic  river  has  its  sources  far  away  in  those 
little  springs  in  shady  nook  and  quiet  valley.  Dry 
up  the  springs,  cut  off  the  head  waters,  and  the 
river  will  dwindle  and  narrow. 

In  Christian  prayer  we  find  the  unseen  sources 
of  Christian  character.  The  power  shown  in  holy 
living  is  power  gained  in  the  closet.  No  Christian 
character  can  either  be  made  or  maintained  without 
prayer.  The  New  Citizen  is  called  to  live  and 
serve  in  the  city  in  the  sight  of  all  his  fellows. 
But  it  is  in  The  Inner  Room  that  he  learns  to  live 
and  gains  the  strength  to  serve.  God  had  one 
Son,  who  lived  without  sin,  but  he  had  no  Son 
who  lived  without  prayer.  The  only  sinless  life 
this  world  ever  saw  was  the  most  prayerful  life. 
Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God,  Son  of  man,  could  not 
get  along  without  constant  prayer.  We  read  of 
him  that,  as  his  custom  was,  he  went  out  to  the 
mountain  to  pray  ;  we  read  of  his  spending  whole 


96  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

nights  in  prayer.  Every  new  day  of  his  life 
brought  its  new  reasons  for  prayer.  It  was  in 
prayer  that  the  Holy  Spirit  came  upon  him  ;  it  was 
in  prayer  that  he  was  transfigured ;  it  was  in 
prayer  that  the  angel  came  to  strengthen  him  ;  it 
was  in  prayer  that  he  breathed  out  his  soul  upon 
the  cross. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  consider  the  place  of 
prayer  in  the  making  and  maintaining  of  Christian 
character. 

I.  The  Three  Reasons  FOR  Prayee. — 1.  There 
is  the  reason  of  human  need  and  weakness.  Man, 
it  has  been  said,  is  the  only  creature  that  naturally 
looks  up  ;  for  all  other  beings  the  heavens  have  no 
attraction.  It  has  been  pointed  out  also,  that  the 
old  Greek  word  for  man  signifies  the  upward 
looking  one.  Be  this  as  it  may,  man  is  the  only 
creature  who  is  conscious  of  deep  wants  which 
only  heaven  can  supply.  Man  is  a  great  bundle  of 
longings.  He  is  by  nature  the  unsatisfied,  the 
aspiring,  the  needy  one.  The  heart  of  man  is  a 
great,  deep,  hungry  ocean  which  nothing  can  fill. 
All  the  rivers  of  a  continent  carry  down  their  trib- 
ute of  water  ;  yet  the  sea  never  overflows.  "  When 
I  was  a  boy,^'  said  Thackeray,  '^  I  wanted  some 
taffy.  It  was  a  shilling  ;  I  hadn't  one.  When  I 
was  a  man  I  had  the  shilling,  but  I  didn't  want 
the  taffy.''  Hear  these  words  of  Thomas 
Carlyle :  "  Man's  unhappiness,  as  I  construe, 
comes  of  his  greatness ;  it  is  because  there  is  an 


THE  INNER  BOOM.  97 

Infinite  in  him,  which  with  all  his  cunning  he  can- 
not quite  bury  under  the  Finite.  Will  the  whole 
Finance  Ministers,  and  upholsterers  and  confec- 
tioners of  modern  Europe  undertake,  in  joint 
stock  company,  to  make  one  shoe- black  happy  ? 
They  cannot  accomplish  it  above  an  hour  or  two  ; 
for  the  shoe-black  also  has  a  soul  quite  other  than 
his  stomach  ;  and  would  require,  if  you  consider  it, 
for  his  permanent  satisfaction  and  saturation, 
simply  this  allotment,  no  more,  and  no  less  ;  God's 
Infinite  Universe  altogether  to  himself,  therein  to 
enjoy  infinitely,  and  fill  every  wish  as  fast  as  it 
rose/'  Set  alongside  this  word  of  Carlyle  the 
complemental  truth  of  Augustine  :  ''  Thou  hast 
made  us  for  thyself,  and  our  heart  is  restless  until 
it  find  rest  in  thee/'  G-od  is  the  Eternal  One, 
and  he  has  set  eternity  in  the  heart  of  man. 
Across  the  years  of  time  and  the  wanderings  of 
man  deep  calleth  unto  deep.  Because  man  is  a 
needy,  dependent  creature,  made  by  God  and  made 
for  God,  he  must  pray. 

Man's  needs  are  as  wide  as  his  nature.  He 
needs  sympathy,  and  guidance,  and  forgiveness  ; 
he  needs  also  a  personal  friend  and  companion  and 
God.  Man  needs  sympathy ;  he  needs  to  know 
that  the  power  above  him  is  a  personal  and  loving 
power.  Science  tells  us  that  no  two  atoms  in  the 
universe  touch  one  another.  The  atoms  in  a 
solid  piece  of  steel  are  separated  by  a  distance 
greater  than  their  diameters.  Life  is  full  of  sur- 
prises ;  all  the  time  we  are  coming  to  chasms  of 
7 


98  THE  NEW  CiriZEN SHIP. 

distance  that  widen  betAveen  ourselves  and  those 
we  thought  were  living  in  touch  with  us.  Soon 
or  late  every  soul  finds  that  in  the  very  deepest 
experiences  of  life  it  is  alone.  But  such  loneli- 
ness is  intolerable  to  man.  So  his  heart  cries  out 
for  God,  the  great  companion,  the  one  who  is 
nearer  to  us  than  we  are  to  ourselves. 

"Speak  to  him,  thou,  for  he  hears,   and  spirit  with 

spirit  can  meet ; 
Closer  is  he  than  breathing,  and  nearer  than  hands  and 

feet." 

Man  needs  help  for  life's  battles  and  guidance 
along  life's  pathway.  The  man  who  knows  most 
of  himself  is  the  one  most  ready  to  confess  his 
own  insufficiency.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the 
Scriptures  nowhere  enforce  prayer  as  a  duty. 
'^  To  force  it  as  a  duty/'  said  Eobertson  of  Brigh- 
ton, ^'  is  dangerous.  Christ  did  not ;  never  com- 
manded it,  never  taught  it  till  asked.''  The 
reason  of  this  is  plain  :  necessity  makes  its  own 
obligation.  Man  needs  instruction  as  to  the  ob- 
jects of  prayer,  the  condition  and  manner  of 
prayer,  but  he  does  not  need  to  have  prayer  in  it- 
self enforced  as  a  duty.  The  man  who  does  not 
pray  is  either  ignorant  of  himself  or  ignorant  of 
God.  More  and  more  the  conviction  forces  itself 
upon  one  that  beyond  everything  else  men  need 
help.  And  to  whom  shall  men  go  for  this  help  ? 
Our  fellows  can  help  us  with  food  and  work,  they 
can  help  us  with  advice  and  counsel.     But  every 


THE  INNER  ROOM.  99 

one  has  felt  himself  saying  at  times  of  all  such 
efforts  :  •''  Miserable  comforters  are  ye  bII."  To 
whom  shall  the  young  man  go  when  the  blood  of 
passion  is  running  hot  in  his  veins  ?  To  whom 
shall  the  mourning  mother  go  when  the  shadow 
of  God's  hand  passes  over  the  home,  and  a  chair 
is  emptied  ?  To  whom  shall  the  man  go  whose 
brain  is  all  confused  over  the  perplexities  of  life 
and  the  problems  of  destiny  ?  I^ever  to  pray, — 
what  does  that  mean  ?  ^ever  to  be  conscious  of 
any  need,  never  to  aspire  after  God,  never  to  look 
gratitude  into  the  face  of  the  eternal  Father,  never 
to  lift  up  the  eye  unto  God  who  guides  us  with 
his  eye. 

And  man  needs  to  pray  that  he  may  come  into 
personal  relations  with  the  living  God.  The  world 
that  man  sees  bulks  very  large  in  his  thought  and 
interest.  x\nd  this  world  he  sees  seems  to  be  a 
world  under  the  control  of  secondary  causes. 
That  is,  law  seems  to  reign  throughout  the  uni- 
verse, and  man's  life  seems  to  be  shut  in  by  fixed 
and  unalterable  laws.  He  seems  to  be  but  a  link 
^^in  an  endless  and  aimless  series  of  cosmical 
changes."  Too  often  nature  looks  into  his  face 
as  a  great  horrible  death-mask,  with  no  heart  that 
loves,  no  will  that  lives  behind  it.  No  one  has 
expressed  this  in  more  striking  language  than  that 
prose  poet,  Jean  Paul  Eichter,  in  his  dream  of  a 
world  without  God.  '^  And  when  I  looked  up  to 
the  boundless  universe  for  the  divine  eye,  behold, 
it  glared  at  me  from  out  a  socket,   empty,  and 


100  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

bottomless.  Over  the  face  of  chaos  brooded 
Eternity  chewing  it  forever,  again  and  yet  again/^ 
The  heart  of  man  was  made  for  fellowship  with 
the  eternal  Father.  Man  cannot  rest  content  in  a 
power  that  rules  by  law  and  fate ;  he  craves  a 
Person  who  loves,  a  will  that  rules,  a  Father  who 
saves  and  guides. 

2.  Again  :  the  second  reason  why  man  should 
pray  is  that  in  prayer  God  imparts  his  choicest  gifts 
to  the  soul.  We  are  encouraged  in  Scripture  to 
bring  to  God  our  daily  wants  and  troubles  ;  we  are 
encouraged  to  believe  that  he  will  give  ns  the 
things  that  we  ask  at  his  hands.  But  it  must  ever 
be  remembered  that  God^s  choicest  gift  to  man 
is  himself.  Deeper  than  any  prayer  for  anything 
that  God  has  to  give  is  the  prayer  for  God  himself 
to  come  into  the  life  and  dwell  there.  Ho\\^  few 
of  the  prayers  of  the  Psalmist  are  for  specific 
objects ;  how  many  of  them  are  longings  after 
God.  The  fact  is  prayer  consummates  itself  in 
this  deep  and  final  longing  after  God.  The  high- 
est blessing  which  God  can  make  known  unto  man 
is  himself.  It  is  in  prayer  that  God  imparts  him- 
self to  man,  and  man  receives  from  God.  The 
divine  Father  can  do  more  in  a  praying  man  than 
in  any  other,  for  the  reason  that  such  a  soul  is 
more  open  and  responsive  to  his  grace  and  love. 
The  Father  gives  himself  without  measure  ;  but 
God  can  give  no  faster  than  man  can  receive. 
Prayer  is  the  soul  of  man  opening  itself  out  to 
receive  the  inflowing  grace  of  God.     Men  do  not 


> 


THE  INNER  BOOM.  101 

become  saints  in  tlieir  sleep  ;  they  do  not  receive 
the  grace  of  God  in  fuhiess  without  their  own 
co-operation.  We  do  not  enter  upon  the  debated 
grounds  of  God's  sovereignty  and  man^s  free 
agency.  Whatever  may  be  the  case  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  life,  through  life  the  condi- 
tion obtains  that  man^s  willingness  to  receive  con- 
ditions God^s  ability  to  give.  It  is  neither  by 
special  Divine  favor  nor  by  happy  human  chance 
that  certain  men  obtained  nearness  to  God  and 
fulness  of  his  spirit.  The  great  men  of  God  in 
all  ages  have  been  men  of  great  prayer.  Few  men 
enjoy  the  nearness  to  God  enjoyed  by  Brainerd  and 
Spurgeon,  Samuel  Rutherford  and  Martin  Luther, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  few  men  are  willing  to 
undergo  the  sweat  of  soul  in  prayer.  Read  this 
leaf  out  of  the  diary  of  David  Brainerd  :  '^^  Lord's 
Day,  April  25th.  This  morning  spent  about  two 
hours  in  sacred  duties,  and  was  enabled  more  than 
ordinarily  to  agonize  for  immortal  souls  ;  though 
it  was  early  in  the  morning  and  the  sun  scarcely 
shone  at  all,  yet  my  body  was  quite  wet  with 
sweat.'''  Prayer  is  the  soul  of  man  opening  itself 
to  receive  the  life  of  God.  And  often  this  exer- 
cise of  soul  calls  for  a  mighty  effort  of  will,  an 
effort  which  few  men  are  willing  to  make.  Man 
needs  to  pray  because  to  the  praying  soul  God 
comes,  and  in  the  praying  soul  he  dwells. 

3.  And  a  third  reason  for  prayer  is  that  by  prayer 
God's  blessings  are  brought  to  men.  A  man's  de- 
sires for  himself  are  the  measure  of  his  desires  for 


102  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

all  mankind.  Prayer  for  others  is  a  necessity  to 
the  soul  that  knows  God.  Many  there  are  who 
make  light  of  this  aspect  of  prayer.  There  are 
those  who  say  that  as  a  spiritual  exercise  nothing 
can  be  more  useful  than  prayer  ;  but  its  objective 
efficacy  is  out  of  the  question.  Surely  no  one  who 
accepts  the  supernatural  origin  of  Christianity  can 
deny  that  prayer  exerts  a  power  outside  the  soul  of 
the  petitioner.  It  may  be  well  to  notice  the  two 
classes  of  objections  that  are  made  to  this  outside 
efficacy  of  prayer.  The  objections  come  from  two 
sources  :  from  love  and  from  law. 

In  the  name  of  God^s  fatherly  love  some  would 
tell  us  that  prayer  for  any  object  outside  our  own 
personal  lives  is  unnecessary.  It  is  said  that  God 
loves  all  men,  and  seeks  to  bless  and  help  them. 
No  word  of  man's  can  ever  make  him  more  ready 
to  bless  and  help.  And  he  knows  so  much  better 
than  man  what  his  children  need,  that  any  word 
of  suggestion  seems  like  a  distrust  of  his  love  and 
wisdom.  Does  it  not  appear  more  becoming,  more 
filial,  such  men  say,  to  put  a  general  trust  in  him, 
and  to  rest  quietly  in  his  providences  ?  There  is 
a  truth  here  which  can  never  be  emphasized  too 
strongly.  God  does  love  his  people  with  an  ever- 
lasting love,  and  he  is  more  ready  to  give  than 
they  are  to  receive.  But  this  argument,  while  it 
seems  to  foster  trust,  easily  allows  us  to  go  on  in 
our  way  and  to  leave  God  out  of  our  lives.  The 
object  of  prayer,  let  us  say  it,  is  not  to  inform 
God  nor  to  change  his  will.     But  God  has  ordained 


THE  INNER  ROOM.  103 

prayer  as  the  means  through  which  his  blessings 
flow  out  to  men.  God  has,  as  the  final  purpose  of 
our  lives,  the  training  of  our  souls  to  habits  of 
personal  intercourse  and  filial  devotion.  We  are 
made  for  sonship  ;  and  sonship  is  personal  co- 
operation, personal  fellowship  with  God  in  his  in- 
finite impulse  to  bless  mankind.  Sonship  is  per- 
sonal co-operation  with  him  in  the  fulfillment  of 
his  plans  in  the  world.  Sonship  is  personal  fel- 
lowship with  the  triune  God  in  love  for  all  con- 
scious creation.  The  trust  in  God  which  causes 
one  to  leave  off  praying  is  not  a  trust  which  truly 
honors  God.  We  may  justly  beware  of  a  trust  in 
God  which  makes  us  think  that  we  are  above  the 
need  of  prayer. 

The  other  objection  to^orayer  comes  in  the  name 
of  law  from  popular  science.  We  are  told  that 
this  is  a  universe  of  uniform  and  necessary  law  ;  and 
hence  prayer  avails  nothing-  God  governs  the 
universe  by  unifomi  and  immutable  law  ;  let  us 
affirm  this  and  believe  this.  Law  is  uniform,  and 
no  sane  man  thinks  of  changing  law.  But  under 
this  term  ''law''  there  lurks  a  subtle  and  danger- 
ous fallacy.  What  do  we  mean  by  law  ?  Law  is 
simply  the  method  which  God  adopts  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  universe.  He  is  not  a  God  of 
chance  and  change,  but  of  order  and  uniformity. 
He  is  the  All-orderly,  the  All-methodical.  But 
law  is  not  a  power  but  a  method.  Man  is  under 
law,  body,  mind  and  spirit.  But  this  does  not 
mean  that  some   power   not  himself   determines 


104  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

every  volition  and  thought.  Man  is  nnder  law, 
but  law  postulates  human  intelligence  and  voli- 
tion in  order  that  man  may  receive  its  benefit. 
Suppose  we  grant  for  a  moment  that  all  human 
actions  are  predeteraiined.  Then  we  may  claim 
that  the  act  of  prayer  is  predetermined  alsO;,  and 
is  a  necessary  link  in  the  chain  of  causation.  The 
reign  of  law  in  other  departments  of  life  does  not 
mean  that  man  is  to  do  nothing  to  get  a  living  ; 
rather  it  postulates  the  conditions  on  which  the 
man  may  live  and  grow.  Iso  one  makes  the  reign 
of  law  a  reason  for  doing  nothing  and  making  no 
effort  to  get  a  living.  Effort  is  God^s  method  of 
conferring  benefits  upon  man.  Prayer  is  as  much 
a  part  of  his  method  of  blessing  man  as  the  falling 
rain,  the  growing  seed,  the  ripening  grain.  TThat 
personal  effort  is  in  the  realm  of  seed  planting  and 
fruit  gathering,  prayer  may  be  in  the  sphere  of 
spiritual  planting  and  harvesting.  Prayer  does 
not  seek  to  change  G-od's  will  or  God's,  order  ; 
rather  it  honors  his  order  and  lifts  us  up  into  cor- 
respondence with  his  will.  We  are  told  in  the 
name  of  a  mistaken  trust  and  a  false  science  that 
whatever  good  God  ordains  will  come  round  to  us 
in  his  own  good  time.  But  in  other  spheres  of 
life  we  do  not  so  act.  Good  does  not  come  round 
to  the  man  who  does  nothing  but  wait  and  frets 
not  himself.  Success  in  any  sphere  of  life  comes 
round  not  by  external  law  or  patient  trust,  but 
only  through  personal  effort  and  co-operation. 
Prayer  is  as  necessary  as  any  other  exercise  or  effort 


THE  INNER  ROOM.  105 

of  man.  We  do  not  of  course  fully  know  how  our 
prayers  are  the  means  of  bringing  about  spiritual 
results  in  others.  But  since  God  does  not  work 
without  means  our  prayers  are  necessary.  ''  Prayer 
is  as  welcome  to  God  as  it  is  indispensable  to  men. 
For  God  does  not  work  without  means.  He  does 
not  thrust  reforms  upon  the  world  before  the 
world  is  ready  to  receive  them.  The  desires  and 
petitions  of  individual  hearts  and  united  congrega- 
tions are  the  signs  by  which  the  Spirit  recognizes 
the  fulness  of  time  for  spiritual  and  social  ad- 
vance "  (Hyde  :  "  Outlines  of  Social  Theology/'  p. 
131).  In  some  way,  we  know  not  how,  prayer 
brings  God  into  the  field,  personally,  actively,  ur- 
gently manifesting  himself.  Prayer  avails  with 
God  ;  it  comes  into  his  ear  ;  it  moves  his  heart ; 
it  calls  forth  his  help.  Xo  one  can  read  the 
Scriptures  without  seeing  this  ;  no  one  can  believe 
in  God  without  believing  this.  Men's  prayers  are 
far  more  to  God  than  they  dare  hope ;  they  ac- 
complish far  more  than  men  ever  know.  It  may  be 
that  men's  prayers  to  God  do  more  toward  the 
blessing  and  saving  of  the  world  than  all  their 
words  to  men. 

"  More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 
Than  this  world  dreams  of.     Wherefore,  let  thy  voice 
Rise  like  a  fountain  for  me  night  and  day. 
For  what  are  men  better  than  sheep  or  goats 
That  nourish  a  blind  life  within  the  brain, 
If,  knowing  God,  they  lift  not  hands  of  prayer 
Both  for  themselves  and  those  who  call  them  friend  ? 


106  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

For  so  the  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 
Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God." 
—Tennyson  :  The  Passing  of  Arthur. 


II.  The  Three  Elements  of  Peayer. 

1.  The  element  of  worship.  We  may  say  that 
two  elements  enter  into  worship  :  thanksgiving 
and  adoration.  God  is  the  great  giver  of  the  uni- 
verse. Whatever  man  possesses  is  God^'s  gift.  A 
large  part  of  prayer  is  just  recognition  of  God^'s 
gifts  and  blessings.  Thankfulness  is  one  of  the 
foundation  principles  of  the  right  life.  The  fact 
is  we  keep  the  consciousness  of  God  clear  in  our 
minds  and  hearts  only  by  the  grateful  recognition 
of  his  goodness.  PauFs  words  referring  to  the 
heathen  are  significant ;  these  people  knew  God, 
but  they  glorified  him  not  as  God,  neither  were 
thankful.  And  soon  they  lost  God  out  of  their 
consciousness.  The  man  who  truly  knows  God,  and 
truly  knows  how  to  pray,  will  often  find  that  his 
prayers  are  nothing  more  than  the  outgoings  of  a 
deeply  grateful  heart.  It  is  surprising  how  large 
an  element  thanksgiving  plays  in  the  prayers  of 
the  Psalmist.  How  often  men  are  exhorted  to 
come  before  him  with  thanksgivings  and  to  show 
themselves  grateful  to  his  name.  '^  Bless  the 
Lord,  0  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits," 
is  a  familiar  refrain. 

Along  with  this  there  is  also  adoration  of  God. 
Very  suggestive  is  the  order  of  petitions  in  that 
prayer  which  teaches  how  to  pray.     When  we  pray 


THE  INNER  ROOM.  107 

we  are  to  say  :  ^*  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven, 
hallowed  be  thy  name/^  To  have  right  thoughts 
of  God  is  all  important.  Prayer  is  the  soul  of  man 
thinking  its  deepest  thoughts  in  the  presence  of 
the  heavenly  Father.  In  prayer  the  soul  of  man 
is  earnestly  fixed  upon  God.  No  chapter  in  all 
the  history  of  mankind  is  more  tragic  than  that 
which  shows  how  deplorably  men  have  failed  to 
appreciate  the  character  of  God.  Every  age,  every 
nation  has  more  or  less  disgraced  itself  and  dis- 
hallowed God^s  name  by  setting  up  unworthy  views 
of  him.  Too  often  men  have  made  gods  after  their 
own  image,  in  their  own  likeness.  Prayer  is  the 
deepest  and  truest  part  of  man  searching  after  the 
deepest  and  truest  knowledge  of  God. 

2.  The  element  of  confession  also  holds  a  prom- 
inent place  in  prayer.  The  moment  a  soul  begins 
to  think  rightly  of  God  and  to  aspire  after  him,  it 
becomes  conscious  of  its  own  unfitness  and  un- 
Avorthiness.  Like  a  shock  there  comes  to  it  a  sense 
of  its  own  sinfulness  and  shortcoming.  'No  man 
can  truly  know  God  without  knowing  himself  also. 
Job  once  had  a  kind  of  knowledge  of  God,  half 
conviction,  half  hearsay.  But  through  a  bitter 
experience  he  is  led  into  a  deeper  knowledge  of  the 
Eternal.  Now  he  cries  :  ''  I  have  heard  of  thee  by 
the  hearing  of  the  ear  :  but  noAV  mine  eye  seeth 
thee,  wherefore  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust 
and  ashes.^^  Here  comes  out  the  point  in  the 
striking  parable  of  the  Master  on  prayer.  The 
Pharisee  is  not  really  thanking  God  or  aspiring 


108  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

after  God.  He  says  in  words  :  "  God,  I  thank 
thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men/'  but  for  every 
thought  he  gives  to  God  he  gives  ten  to  himself. 
He  is  thinking  far  more  of  what  he  has  become 
than  of  what  God  has  done.  His  prayer  shows  no 
deep  heart-hunger  for  God  ;  so  it  shows  no  deep 
consciousness  of  need,  and  it  is  destitute  of  con- 
fession and  contrition.  The  publican  has  forgotten 
all  about  himself  in  thinking  of  the  God  above 
him.  He  is  aspiring  after  God,  trying  to  keep 
step  with  the  eternal  Father.  And  only  one  word 
is  logical  and  fitting :  God  be  merciful  to  me,  a 
sinner. 

The  greatest  sin  of  all,  it  has  been  said,  is  to  be 
conscious  of  no  sin.  No  man  has  learned  to  pray 
till  there  wells  up  in  him  a  great  sense  of  un- 
worthiness  before  God.  So  he  brings  every  part 
of  his  life,  every  plan,  every  effort,  every  ambition, 
and  spreads  them  out  before  God  for  his  testing 
and  approval  or  rejection.  Let  a  man  think  for  a 
moment  of  the  mixed  motives  with  which  he  does 
his  best  work  ;  let  him  think  of  the  many  things 
he  does  that  are  defective  and  wrong,  and  he  will 
be  filled  exceedingly  with  confusion  of  face.  Often 
he  will  run  into  the  Inner  Eoom  where  in  secret 
he  may  pour  out  his  story  of  failure  and  sin  into 
the  ear  of  the  Father  who  heareth  with  such  in- 
finite patience  and  such  infinite  helpfulness. 

3.  The  third  element  is  communion.  Prayer 
is  the  outgoing  of  the  soul  after  God.  All  confi- 
dences enter  into  this  exercise  ;  and  whatever  con- 


THE  INNER  BOOM.  109 

cerus  the  soul  may  go  into  the  prayer  to  God. 
The  true  child  consults  his  Father  about  every- 
thing. He  has  no  wish,  no  plan  that  he  cannot 
take  to  the  Father  for  approval  or  for  censure. 
The  child  takes  the  cares  of  the  day  and  talks 
them  over  with  the  Father ;  he  breathes  out  his 
wishes  and  longings  into  the  ear  that  is  ever  ready 
to  hear. 

This  element  is  too  much  overlooked  in  prayer. 
Many  persons  think  of  prayer  as  petition  alone. 
So  they  seldom  go  to  God  unless  they  have  some 
special  favor  to  ask  at  his  hands.  The  man  who 
prays  in  this  way  does  not  know  how  to  pray  at 
all ;  he  does  not  know  the  first  elements  of  prayer. 
Prayer,  real  prayer  is  the  longing  of  the  soul  after 
God  and  a  ready  acceptance  of  his  will.  The  soul 
may  go  to  God  with  some  special  petition,  but  as 
it  communes  with  the  Father,  it  begins  to  enter 
into  God^s  purposes  and  plans  for  the  world.  Be- 
fore the  prayer  is  finished,  the  soul  has  made  its 
confession  of  sin,  its  consecration  to  God's  will  and 
work,  and  is  ready  to  ask  w^hat  it  can  do  toward 
the  fulfillment  of  the  thing  desired.  In  every  true 
petition  there  is  somewhere  wrapped  up  a  vow  to 
do  God^'s  will.  One  day  the  Master  bade  his  dis- 
ciples look  over  the  crowd  of  fainting,  scattered, 
shepherdless  people.  Then  he  charged  them  to 
pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  would  send 
forth  laborers  into  the  harvest.  Very  significant, 
is  the  record  that  follows.  And  he  called  unto 
him  his  twelve    disciples,  and  sent  them  out  to 


110  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

heal  every  sickness  and  every  infirmity.  The  man 
who  prays.  Father,  thy  kingdom  come,  waits  upon 
God  till  he  knows  what  he  can  do  to  help  on  the 
coming  of  that  kingdom.  A  prayer  that  does  not 
contain  a  vow  is  the  most  empty  thing  in  the 
world.  The  Christian  offers  his  prayer  in  the 
name  of  Christ:  and  the  '^name^'  signifies  the 
character  and  will  of  Christ.  That  is,  the  man 
who  prays  in  the  name  of  Christ,  enters  into  the 
spirit  of  Christ's  life ;  he  pledges  himself  to  do 
whatever  the  Father  wills.  To  pray  in  the  name 
of  Christ  thus  signifies  to  pray  in  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  to  seek  the  things  which  Christ  seeks,  to 
turn  the  soul  over  to  the  Father's  will  to  he  used 
as  he  directs. 

Communion  is  the  best  part  of  prayer.  We 
read  that  Jesus  spent  whole  nights  in  prayer  to 
God.  We  can  hardly  suppose  that  he  spent  all  the 
hours  in  making  requests  of  the  Father.  Eather 
we  must  suppose  that  he  spent  the  precious  hours 
in  communion.  Men  misunderstood,  hated  him, 
rejected  him ;  the  burden  of  human  woe  pressed 
heavily  upon  his  heart.  He  must  get  away  from 
men  that  he  may  spend  much  time  in  communion 
with  his  Father.  It  was  in  prayer,  we  may  believe, 
that  he  received  the  strength  which  enabled  him 
to  bear  the  sorrows  and  burdens  of  men.  It  was 
in  prayer  that  he  received  the  full  consciousness 
of  his  oneness  with  the  Father.  And  it  was  in 
prayer  that  he  became  transfigured  with  the  glory 
of  the  eternal  throne.     '^  As  he  prayed,  the  fashion 


THE  IN  NEB  ROOM.  HI 

of  liis  countenance  was  altered/^  The  weakness 
and  weariness  vanish^  and  the  power  and  glory  of 
God  fill  his  whole  body  with  light.  Moses,  when 
he  came  down  from  the  mount  after  forty  days 
communion  with  God,  came  doAvn  with  shining 
face.  ''Think  of  Buddha/^  says  the  Buddhist, 
''  and  you  become  like  Buddha.  If  you  pray  to 
Buddha  and  do  not  become  like  Buddha,  the 
mouth  i^rays  and  not  the  heart."  ''But  we  all, 
with  unveiled  face,  reflecting  as  a  mirror  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  are  transformed  into  the  same  image 
from  glory  unto  glory,  even  as  from  the  Lord  the 
Spirit.-'^ 

III.  The  Three  Ki^^^ds  of  Prater. 

George  Matheson  in  a  suggestive  chapter  on, 
"  The  Moral  Place  of  Prayer,"  has  analyzed  pray- 
ers into  three  classes.  Adopting  his  classification 
we  name  these  :  the  prayer  that  is  unheard  ;  the 
prayer  that  is  merely  natural ;  and  the  prayer  that 
is  moral  and  Christian. 

1.  The  prayer  that  is  unheard  is  a  more  common 
prayer  than  many  suppose.  Many  passages  of 
Scripture  might  be  quoted  in  Illustration  of  this 
kind  of  prayer.  "  He  that  turneth  away  his  ear 
from  hearing  the  law,  even  his  prayer  shall  be 
abomination  "  (Prov.  xxviii.  9).  Akin  to  this  is  the 
prayer  of  the  man  whose  hands  are  full  of  guilt 
and  whose  heart  is  full  of  greed.  "  And  when  ye 
come  to  appear  before  me,  who  hath  required  this 
at  your  hand,  to  trample  my  courts  ?     Bring  no 


112  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

more  vain  oblations  :  incense  is  an  abomination 
unto  me.  .  .  And  when  ye  spread  forth  j^oiir 
hands  I  will  hide  mine  eyes  from  you  ;  yea,  when 
ye  make  many  prayers  I  will  not  hear  ;  your  hands 
are  full  of  blood"  (Isaiah  i.  :  13,  15).  No  man 
can  offer  a  right  and  acceptable  prayer  to  God, 
unless  he  is  trying  to  know  God^s  will.  For  ex- 
ample :  a  godless  man,  whose  life  is  one  long  dis- 
obedience, in  some  hour  of  danger  cries  unto  God 
for  help.  He  prays  that  God  may  spare  the  life 
of  his  child  or  may  grant  him  some  favor.  Unless 
he  comes  saying,  Oh,  God,  thy  will  be  done  in  me 
and  by  me.  Oh,  God  show  me  thy  will  and  I  will 
do  it,  his  prayer  is  a  hollow  mockery,  an  abomina- 
tion unto  God.  The  first  prayer  that  such  a  man 
can  offer  is  a  prayer  for  pardon  and  a  pledge  to 
obey.  Shakespeare  has  expressed  this  truth  in  most 
striking  words.  The  king  has  been  conscience 
stricken  by  the  scene  enacted  before  him  by  Ham- 
let's trained  players.  He  is  alone  now  and  tries  to 
pray,— 


"  O  my  offence  is  rank,  it  smells  to  heaven ; 
It  hath  the  primal  eldest  curse  upon  it, 
A  brother's  murder.     Pray  can  I  not ; 
Though  inclination  be  as  sharp  as  will, 
My  stronger  guilt  defeats  my  strong  intent ; 
And,  like  a  man  to  double  business  bound, 
I  stand  in  pause  where  I  shall  first  begin, 
And  both  neglect.     What  if  this  cursed  hand 
Were  thicker  than  itself  with  brother's  blood, 
Is  there  not  rain  enough  in  the  sweet  heavens 


THE  INNER  BOOM.  113 

To  wash  it  white  as  snow  ?    Whereto  serves  mercy 

But  to  confront  the  visage  of  offence  ? 

And  what's  in  prayer  but  this  twofold  force, 

To  be  forestalled  ere  we  come  to  fall, 

Or  pardon'd  being  down  ?    Then  I'll  look  up  ; 

My  fault  is  past.     But,  O,  what  form  of  prayer 

Can  serve  my  turn  ?  '  Forgive  me  my  foul  murder  9 ' 

That  cannot  be  :  since  I  am  still  possess'd 

Of  those  effects  for  which  I  did  the  murder. 

My  crown,  mine  own  ambition,  and  my  queen. 

May  one  be  pardon'd  and  retain  the  offence  ? 

.  .  .  What  then  ?    What  rests  ? 
Try  what  repentance  can  ?  what  can  it  not  ? 
Yet  what  can  it,  when  one  cannot  repent  ? 
O  wretched  state  !    O  bosom  black  as  death  ! 
O  limed  soul,  that,  struggling  to  be  free. 
Art  more  engaged !     Help,  angels !     Make  assay  ! 
Bow,  stubborn  knees:  and  heart,  with  strings  of 

steel, 
Be  soft  as  sinews  of  the  new  born  babe  ! 
All  may  be  welL 

(Rising)  My  words  fly  up,  my  thoughts  remain  be- 
low. 
Words  without  thoughts  never  to  heaven  go." 

Hamlet,  Act  III,  Sc.  3. 

The  man  who  cherishes  a  known  sin  cannot  offer 
an  acceptable  prayer  to  God.  His  only  prayer 
that  will  be  heard  is  a  cry  for  pardon,  a  prayer 
that  God  will  take  away  the  sin,  root  and  branch, 
out  of  his  life.  Till  he  does  this,  any  other  prayer 
is  an  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God. 

**  Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord? 

And  who  shall  stand  in  his  holy  place  ? 
8 


114  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

He  that  hath  clean  hands,  and  a  pure  heart ; 
Who  hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity, 
And  hath  not  sworn  deceitfully. 
He  shall  receive  a  blessing  from  the  Lord, 
And  righteousness  from  the  God  of  his  salvation." 

P&alm  24 :  35. 

From  beginning  to  end  of  Scripture  this  is  the  con- 
stant refrain  ;  for  God  to  hear  and  bless,  hands  must 
be  clean  of  gi'eed  and  fraud,  and  the  heart  must 
be  pure  from  covetousness  and  passion.  This  does 
not  mean  that  no  one  can  pray  whose  life  is  de- 
fective, but  it  does  mean  that  no  one  can  pray  so 
long  as  he  is  willing  to  allow  any  defect  to  remain 
in  his  life. 

Akin  to  this  is  the  purely  selfish  prayer.  "  Ye 
ask,  and  receive  not,  because  ye  ask  amiss,  that 
ye  may  spend  it  in  your  pleasures  "  (James  4  :  3). 
The  man's  prayer  may  come  from  a  perfectly  sin- 
cere heart ;  and  yet  it  is  unheard  because  it  is 
wrong.  It  is  selfish  through  and  through.  His 
only  thought  of  God  is  of  one  who  can  be  used  to 
further  the  selfish  plans  of  men.  More  than  we 
suppose  of  human  prayers  are  unanswered,  because 
they  are  little  else  than  thinly  disguised  selfish- 
ness. So  long  as  God  can  be  persuaded  to  further 
his  interests  the  man  is  homagef  ul  and  reverent.  A 
man  is  aspiring  after  some  office  in  the  state  ;  and 
lie  promises  God  that,  if  elected,  he  will  turn  over 
a  new  leaf  and  become  a  church-member.  Such  a 
prayer  as  that  is  an  abomination  in  the  sight  of 
God.    Or,  a  man  who  desires  to  be  rich  promises 


THE  INNER  ROOM.  115 

God  that,  if  he  becomes  rich,  he  will  do  good  with 
his  money,  and  will  give  largely  to  the  cause  of 
missions.  But  God  is  not  mocked.  The  attempt 
to  cheat  and  hoodwink  God  in  this  way,  by  using 
him  as  a  means  for  the  gratification  of  our  private 
whims  and  ambitions,  is  most  futile.  It  requires 
no  words  to  show  that  such  prayers  cannot  be  ac- 
ceptable to  the  God  of  truth. 

Another  form  of  this  unheard  prayer  is  the  pure- 
ly personal  prayer.  What  a  man  wishes  for  him- 
self is  to  be  the  measure  of  his  wish  for  all  man- 
kind. No  man  who  has  rightly  known  the  God 
and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  can  offer  a 
purely  personal  prayer.  He  will  make  his  own  in- 
terest and  wish  subordinate  to  the  will  of  God  and 
the  interests  of  his  fellows.  George  Matheson 
supposes  the  case  of  two  armies  on  the  eve  of  battle 
holding  religious  services,  and  each  army  petition- 
ing God  for  success  on  the  morrow,  which  means 
the  extermination  of  its  antagonist.  "  We  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  New  Testament 
would  not  indorse  such  a  form  of  prayer.  The 
most  it  would  authorize  in  such  circumstances 
would  be  the  petition  :  "  Thy  kingdom  come^'' — 
let  that  cause  triumph,  whose  triumph  would  least 
disturb  the  balance  of  the  empire  of  the  King  of 
kings  "  (  Landmarks  of  the  New  Testament  Mor- 
ality, p.  122).  How  many  prayers  never  get  be- 
yond the  charmed  circle  of  a  man's  own  interests  ?* 
Some  one  has  put  this  thought  into  the  following 
selfish  man's  prayer, — 


116  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

"  God  bless  me  and  my  wife, 
My  son  John  and  his  wife, 
Us  four  and  no  more, 
For  Christ's  sake.     Amen." 

In  that  prayer  which  teaches  to  pray,  we  are  bid- 
den to  say  : 

^' Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven,  forgive  ws,  lead  us, 
deliver  iis." 

In  such  a  world  as  this,  where  men  suffer,  and  sin, 
and  starve,  a  purely  personal  prayer  is  an  unac- 
ceptable, an  unheard  prayer. 

2.  Next  above  this  in  the  scale,  we  have  the 
natural  prayer,  the  prayer  of  the  man  who  has  no 
true  knowledge  of  the  will  and  character  of  God, 
the  Gentile  prayer,  as  Christ  called  it.  Against 
tliis  kind  of  prayer  we  are  cautioned  by  the  Master  : 
"  Be  not  anxious  for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat, 
or  what  ye  shall  drink,  nor  yet  for  your  body  what 
ye  shall  put  on — For  after  all  these  things  do  the 
Gentiles  seek  ;  for  your  heavenly  Father  knoweth 
that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things."  This  kind 
of  prayer  is  not  described  as  immoral,  but  it  is 
Gentile  in  its  spirit,  in  that  it  rises  no  higher  than 
the  level  of  pagan  thought.  Many  times  in  his 
teaching  Jesus  drew  contrasts  between  the  moral- 
ity of  the  Gentiles  and  the  righteousness  of  the 
kingdom.  He  does  not  condemn  their  ideas  and 
moralities  as  immoral  or  illegitimate,  but  only 
shows  how  far  short  they  come  of  the  saintly  and 
the  Christian  standard.     The  Gentile  mind  takes 


THE  INNER  BOOM,  117 


anxious  thought  for  the  things  of  time  and  sense  ; 
food  and  raiment,  treasure  and  ease  bulk  hirge  m 
its  interest.     After  all  these  things  do  the  Gentiles 
seek  ;  but  the  Christian  is  to  live  on  a  higher  plane. 
Notice  that  Jesus  does  not  forbid  men  asking  for 
these  other  things  of  food  and  raiment ;  he  only  says 
that  the  prayer  that  never  rises  above  these  things 
is  Gentile  and  not  Christian.     The   man   who  is 
living  for  the   present  world,   who   is  concerned 
•  chiefly  for  the  body  and  its  wants,  who  never  rises 
in  prayer  above  the  natural  and  the  temporal,  has 
not  yet  entered  into  the  glory  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.    This  does  not  mean  that  we  are  never  to 
take  to  God  our  temporal  and  everyday  interests ; 
concerning  everything  we  are  to  consult  him.  But 
much  depends  upon  the  kind  of  thought  we  give 
to  these  things ;  much  depends  upon  the  motive 
in  the  prayer.     The  difference,   as  Matheson  so 
well  shows,   lies  in  the  motive  and  the  thought, 
whether  the  things  are  sought  as  means  or  as  ends. 
We  have  the  warrant  of  Scripture  in  praying  for 
blessings  upon  men,  blessings  of  fruitful  seasons 
and  temporal  prosperity.     But  ours  is  a  Gentile 
prayer,  if  it  rises  no  higher  than   these  material 
things.    These  things  have  value,  in  so  far  as  they 
minister  to  the  life  of  the  soul.     Much  working 
and  planning  and  praying  is  Gentile  and  not  Chris- 
tian, for  the  simple  reason  that  it  never  gets  above 
the  level  of  the   material   and  the  earthly.     The 
man  lives  in  the  kingdom  of  this  world  ;  he  does 
not  see  that  the  life  is  more  than  the  meat,  and 


118  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

the  man  is  more  than  the  raiment.  He  does  not 
see  that  a  man^s  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abun- 
dance of  the  things  which  he  possesseth.  Christ's 
own  order  in  his  model  prayer  is  given  for  our 
guidance.  The  Father's  name,  the  Father's  king- 
dom, the  Father's  will  come  first ;  then,  as  means 
to  these  ends,  we  pray  for  daily  bread,  for  deliver- 
ance from  evil,  and  for  all  other  things.  This  is 
the  determining  question  :  Do  we  regard  the  Fath- 
er's kingdom  as  a  means  to  our  daily  bread ;  or 
do  we  regard  our  daily  bread  as  a  means  to  the 
Father's  kingdom?  ^^ After  such  things  do  the 
Gentiles  seek  ;  and  your  Father  knoweth  that  ye 
have  need  of  these  things.  But  seek  ye  first 
the  kingdom  of  Grod  and  his  righteousness,  and  all 
these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  Matt.  6  : 
32,  33. 

3.  And  this  brings  us  to  the  highest  kind  of 
prayer,  the  fully  Christian  prayer.  In  this  |)rayer 
the  hallowing  of  God's  name,  the  coming  of  God's 
kingdom,  and  the  doing  of  God's  will  are  supreme 
ends  ;  and  all  other  things  are  means  toward  these 
ends.  What  was  said  above  applies  here  :  God's 
greatest  gift  to  men  is  himself.  The  Christian 
prayer  is  a  prayer  that  men  may  know  God  rather 
than  anything  that  he  has  to  bestow.  It  is  a 
prayer  that  we  may  make  his  name,  his  kingdom, 
his  will  higher  than  our  own  interests  and  pleas- 
ures and  desires.  The  Christian  has  an  interest 
in  everything  human  ;  he  seeks  daily  bread  and 
proper  clothing.     But  these  things  are  all  glorified 


THE  INNER  ROOM.  119 

and  transfigured  by  the  kingdom  of  God  of  which 
they  are  a  part.  God^s  name,  God's  kingdom, 
God's  will  he  sees  are  universal,  loving,  social. 
His  seeking  of  bread  is  no  longer  a  personal  thing, 
but  a  participation  in  the  universal  hunger  of  the 
world.  He  sees  that  he  is  a  member  of  the  great 
body  of  humanity,  and  he  makes  its  pains  and 
wants  his  own  burden  and  care.  He  seeks  and 
prays  now  that  all  men  may  become  partakers  in 
the  common  bounties  and  blessings  of  God.  Out 
of  his  deep  sense  of  oneness  with  his  fellows,  in  all 
their  sorrows  and  joys,  their  woes  and  wants,  he 
lifts  his  soul  in  prayer  to  the  heavenly  Father  in 
their  behalf. 

"  He  prayeth  well,  who  loveth  well 
Both  man,  and  bird  and  beast. 

He  prayeth  best,  who  loveth  best 
All  things  both  great  and  small ; 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us, 
He  made  and  loveth  all. " 

Coleridge  :  The  Ancient  Mariner. 

Thus  prayer,  true  Christian  prayer,  is  more  than 
petition  to  God,  it  is  more  also  than  communion 
with  God  ;  it  is  rather  participation  in  the  life  of 
God,  it  is  the  soul  of  man  aspiring  after  God's 
will  and  the  glory  of  his  kingdom.  This  prayer 
has  its  human  aspects  and  outlooks  as  well.  It  is 
more  than  petitioning  God  for  men,  more  than  an 
intercession  in  their  behalf.     Rather  it  is  a  par- 


120  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

ticipation  in  the  life  of  man  and  an  aspiration  to 
bring  the  blessings  of  God^s  kingdom  into  the 
lives  of  all  men,  a  longing  to  bring  God  and  man 
together  in  a  fellowship  of  life  and  love.  Prayer, 
Christian  prayer,  seeks  to  lift  man  up  to  God,  and 
to  bring  God  near  to  man.  The  Christian  enters 
into  his  closet,  but  his  thought  goes  out  to  all 
mankind.  He  says  there  in  the  Inner  Room  : 
''  Our  Father :  forgive  us  our  debts,  give  us 
our  daily  bread,  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but 
deliver  us  from  evil.'^ 

And  such  prayers  move  in  the  realm  of  moral 
certainty  because  they  possess  moral  value.  Con- 
cerning all  such  prayers  there  can  be  no  question 
but  that  they  are  heard  and  answered.  Such 
prayers  are  truly  offered  in  the  name  and  spirit  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  ;  such  prayers  are  truly  in  accord 
with  the  will  of  God.  Over  against  all  such 
prayers  there  stands  recorded  the  promise  :  '^  What- 
soever ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do." 

And  in  this  conception  of  prayer  we  find  the 
harmony  of  the  two  injunctions  of  Scripture  : 
First,  that  of  the  Lord  Jesus  :  ''When  ye  pray, 
enter  into  your  closet  and  shut  the  door."  And 
the  other  word  of  the  apostle  Paul  ;  ''  Pray  with- 
out ceasing."  The  man  who  prays  the  Christianas 
prayer  will  desire  to  get  away  from  the  bustle  and 
crowd  of  the  street ;  he  will  long  to  be  alone  with 
God  for  a  season.  In  that  closet  the  keynote  of 
his  life  will  be  struck ;  in  that  closet  the  attitude 
of  his  soul  will  be  determined.     Then  he  arises 


THE  INNER  ROOM.  121 

and  goes  out  to  make  his  life  an  aspiration,  and 
to  show  this  attitude  of  his  soul  by  his  endeavor. 
His  life  becomes  a  prayer,  and  his  prayer  deter- 
mines his  life. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PAST   THE   DEAD   POIISTTS. 

He  that  is  unrighteous,  let  him  do  unrighteousness  yet  more  ;  and 
he  that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  made  filthy  yet  more  ;  and  he  that  is 
righteous,  let  him  do  righteousness  yet  more  ;  and  he  that  is  holy, 
let  him  be  made  holy  yet  more.— TTie  Apocalypse,  R.  V.  and  Margin. 

In  the  conduct  of  life,  habits  count  for  more  than  maxims,  be- 
cause habit  is  a  living  maxim,  become  flesh  and  instinct.  To  reform 
one's  maxims  is  nothing  ;  it  is  but  to  change  the  title  of  the  book. 
To  learn  new  habits  is  everything,  for  it  is  to  reach  the  substance 
of  life.    Life  is  but  a  tissue  of  habits.— Henri-Frederic  Amiel. 

There  is  peril  in  cutting  loose  from  the  habitual  and  the  stated. 
Disposition  needs  training.  Character  is  impulse  that  has  been 
reined  down  into  steady  continuance.— Charles  H.  Parkhurst. 

Sow  an  act,  and  you  reap  a  habit ;  sow  a  habit,  and  you  reap  a 
character ;  sow  a  character,  and  you  reap  a  destiny.— George 
Dana  Boardman. 

Iis^ertia  is  the  power  that  resists  change.      It 

may  be  called  the  conservative  principle  of  the 

universe.     It  is  the  friend  of  order^  stability,  and 

permanence.     Without  it  the  order  of  the  universe 

could  not  be  maintained  for  an  instant.     Some 

one  has  given  a  fancy  sketch  of  a  world  in  which 

levity  took  the  place  of  gravity.     A  sketch  even 

more  fanciful  might  be  made  of  a  world  in  which 

inertia  had  no  place.      Inertia  is  defined  in  the 

school-books  as  that  property  of  matter  by  which  it 

cannot  of  itself  change  its  own  state  of  motion  or 

of  rest.     No  particle  of  matter  in  the  universe  has 
(122) 


PAST  THE  DEAD  POINTS.  123 

power  to  move  itself  when  at  rest  ;  and  no  particle 
of  matter  lias  power  to  stop  itself  when  in  motion. 
There  is  thus  an  inherent  and  constant  tendency 
in  things  to  continue  in  their  present  state.  It  is 
said  that  a  stone  thrown  into  the  air  would  con- 
tinue in  a  straight  line  forever  were  it  not  for 
the  resistance  of  the  air  and  the  attraction  of  the 
earth. 

Inertia  holds  an  honorable  jDlace  in  all  human 
affairs.  Because  of  this  principle  the  steam-engine 
is  possible.  Without  a  fly-wheel  the  steam-engine 
would  practically  be  impossible.  The  piston-rod, 
pushed  by  the  power  of  the  steam,  moves  out  in 
its  course  and  then  comes  to  a  dead  stop.  But 
while  the  rod  is  moving  out-  in  its  course,  it  is 
storing  up  energy  in  the  fly-wheel.  When  the 
piston-rod  has  reached  its  limit,  it  comes  to  the 
dead-point  and  is  helpless.  But  the  stored-up 
energy  in  the  wheel  now  asserts  itself  and  carries 
the  rod  past  the  dead-point.  Thus  regular  motion 
is  maintained  and  the  engine  becomes  possible. 
Inertia  can  say  to  men  :  they  reckon  ill  who  leave 
me  out. 

This  property  of  things  that  we  call  inertia, 
when  read  in  terms  of  matter,  we  call  habit  when 
read  in  terms  of  life.  Habit  is  to  life  what  inertia 
is  to  matter.  What  we  are,  we  tend  to  continue  ; 
what  we  are  not,  it  is  not  easy  to  become.  And  in 
this  principle  that  men  call  habit  we  find  the 
promise  and  potency  of  progress  and  growth. 
Habit  stores  up  the  effort  and  energy  of  the  past. 


124  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

and  carries  life  past  its  dead-points.  It  thus  in- 
sures patient  continuance  in  well-doing.  Habit, 
like  inertia,  keeps  the  motion  of  life  steady  and 
unbroken,  and  distributes  the  man's  power  equally 
and  regularly  over  the  work  to  be  done. 

I.  The  Law  of  Habit. 

Habit  is  three-fourths  of  life.  Some  one  has 
called  man  a  bundle  of  habits.  Nine-tenths  of  all 
the  things  we  think  or  say  or  do,  we  think  or  say 
or  do,  because  we  are  in  the  habit  of  so  doing. 
We  could  do  very  little  in  this  world,  were  it  not 
for  this  principle  of  habit.  Habit  conserves  the 
effort  of  the  past  and  makes  it  available  in  the 
present.  The  formation  of  right  habits  means  a 
great  saving  of  physical  and  mental  energy  and 
effort.  Our  life  builds  itself  up  out  of  the  things 
we  do  from  day  to  day.  No  act  begins  or  ends 
with  itself.  Everything  we  do  is  built  into  the 
structure  of  life,  and  becomes  at  once  an  effect  and 
a  cause  ;  we  may  say  that  every  act  is  an  effect 
that  becomes  a  cause.  A  Spanish  proverb  says  : 
''Every  man  is  the  child  of  his  own  deeds.'' 
And  just  as  truly  may  we  say  :  ''  Every  man's 
deeds  are  the  children  of  all  his  past."  What  we 
have  done  is  a  prophecy  of  what  we  will  do.  A 
simple  illustration  will  make  this  truth  plain. 

A  number  of  men  determine  to  build  a  railroad 
through  a  certain  country.  They  find  many  ob- 
stacles in  the  way  :  hills  have  to  be  leveled,  valleys 
must  be  filled,  grades  must  be  determined,  and 


PAST  THE  DEAD  POINTS.  125 

curves  calculated.  By  and  by,  however,  the  road 
is  built  and  the  rails  are  laid.  Now  every  train 
passing  through  that  country  has  its  course  all 
marked  out  for  it.  The  engine  has  nothing  to  do 
but  follow  along  lines  long  ago  determined  for  it. 
To-day  the  train  passes  over  a  course  determined 
for  it  fifty  years  ago.  It  is  precisely  so  with  man. 
In  his  early  years  he  is  making  a  course  for  himself, 
laying  down  certain  lines  of  action,  creating  cer- 
tain habits  of  thought  and  speech.  As  the  years 
pass  the  man  becomes  very  largely  the  mere  copy 
of  himself  ;  he  does  very  few  original  things  ;  he 
continues  to  be  just  what  he  has  been.  And  more 
than  this,  all  things  here  below  tend  toward  a 
permanence.  For  a  number  of  years  the  brain  of 
man  is  plastic,  and  is  easily  influenced  by  new 
conditions  and  shaped  to  new  issues.  But  in  the 
course  of  years  the  brain  cells  assume  a  more  and 
more  fixed  structure  ;  thus  new  modes  of  thought 
and  activity  become  increasingly  difficult.  The 
water  in  running  down  a  valley  soon  wears  a  chan- 
nel for  itself  ;  and  as  the  channel  is  worn  the 
stream  runs.  A  time  comes  when  the  man  has 
determined  a  channel  for  his  life  ;  then  just  as  the 
channel  is  made  the  life  runs.  The  changing  of 
old  courses  of  life  becomes  difficult  and  the  acquire- 
ment of  new  courses  becomes  more  and  more  dif- 
ficult. Our  present  is  the  resultant  of  our  past, 
and  our  present  is  the  determiner  of  our  future. 
Our  physical,  mental  and  moral  life  tends  to  be- 
come fixed  and  unchangeable.     New  impressions 


126  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

may  come  to  us^  but  they  have  little  influence  ; 
new  appeals  may  be  made,  but  they  become  less 
and  less  potent.  The  man  yields  to  that  which 
falls  in  with  his  habitual  modes  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion. The  number  of  persons  converted  when 
above  fifty  years  of  age  is  significantly  small,  so 
small  that  we  can  say  to  the  youth  :  it  is  now  or 
never.  Thus  what  men  do  in  youth  becomes 
an  angel  or  a  nemesis  to  bless  or  to  plague  them  in 
the  years  to  come.  Life  has  no  breaks ;  we  shall 
be  to-morrow  just  what  we  are  to-day,  only  more 
so.  The  man  who  reaches  fifty  years  of  age  shift- 
less, intemperate,  prayerless,  is  almost  certain  to 
remain  such  to  the  end  of  the  chapter.  ''  Can  the 
Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his 
spots  ?  Then  may  those  who  are  accustomed  to 
do  evil,  learn  to  do  well."'  Change  is  not  impos- 
sible, else  life  would  be  a  most  hopeless  and  tragic 
affair.  But  any  change  that  may  come  to  life  is 
simply  a  change  in  the  direction  of  action.  No 
change  can  ever  bring  to  man  a  set  of  new  habits 
ready  made  and  perfect.  Conversion,  as  men  call 
it,  puts  in  the  warp  on  which  life  weaves  a  new 
fabric. 

Habit  is  thus  one  of  the  great  and  fateful  facts 
of  human  life.  Habits  are  extremely  useful  or 
extremely  hurtful,  just  according  to  the  nature  of 
the  habit.  This  principle  of  habit  makes  progress 
both  possible  or  impossible.  The  formation  of 
good  habits  results  in  a  saving  of  incalculable  ef- 
fort and  pain.     This  power  of  habit  enables  us  to 


PAST  THE  DEAD  POINTS.  127 

do  our  daily  work  with  the  least  expenditure  of 
thought  and  effort.  Suppose  we  had  to  learn 
how  to  speak  every  time  we  wanted  to  utter  a 
word.  Suppose  we  had  to  learn  how  to  make 
the  letters  every  time  we  wanted  to  write  a 
sentence.  Suppose  we  had  to  acquire  the  art  of 
playing  every  time  we  sat  down  to  the  piano.  To 
learn  to  do  these  things  was  not  easy.  But  now 
that  we  have  learned  how  to  do  them,  they  almost 
do  themselves.  We  sit  down  to  the  desk  with 
paper  and  pen,  and  think  a  word,  and  the  wor(i 
practically  writes  itself.  Speaking,  writing,  walk- 
ing, and  a  thousand  other  things  are  done  almost 
automatically  and  mechanically.  We  think  tLe 
thing,  and  lo,  it  is  done  without  conscious  effort. 
Dexterity  in  work,  the  power  of  speech,  the  mode 
of  expressing  one^s  self,  all  have  to  be  acquired  by 
infinite  care  and  effort.  When  once  they  are  ac- 
quired, they  become  a  permanent  possession,  and 
thus  man  is  enabled  to  give  his  attention  to  other 
things. 

No  one  can  overestimate  the  significance  and 
value  of  habits.  All  man's  actions  tend  to  become 
fixed,  automatic  and  unchangeable.  A  great  many 
people  suppose  that  they  can  cease  to  do  ill,  and 
learn  to  do  well  at  any  time,  whenever  they  choose. 
One  good  resolution  does  not  make  a  man  holy,  as 
one  warm  day  does  not  make  a  spring.  No  man 
can  ''  resolve"  a  bad  habit  out  of  his  life  and  "  re- 
solve "  a  good  habit  in  at  a  moment's  notice.  The 
law  of  inertia  will  not  permit  any  such  thing.     It 


128  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

is  a  good  thing  for  man  that  it  is  so.  If  character 
could  be  gained  in  a  moment,  it  could  be  lost  in  a 
moment.  Easy  come,  easy  go,  is  as  true  in  morals 
as  in  money.  Whatever  is  worth  having  must  be 
worked  for  ;  it  is  not  gained  by  wishing.  After 
all,  this  should  give  man  joy  rather  than  pain. 
The  virtue  that  is  easily  won  is  as  easily  lost.  The 
man  who  is  hard  to  move  is  hard  to  stop  when 
going.  No  power  beneath  the  stars  could  stop 
Saul  the  persecutor  of  the  Christians  ;  and  no 
power  beneath  those  same  stars  could  stop  Paul 
the  apostle.  Paul  is  Saul  with  a  new  Master,  a 
new  direction  in  life.  Beginnings  are  always  dif- 
ficult, but  as  one  goes  on  the  power  to  continue 
increases.  After  a  time  one  can  continue  on  with- 
out effort.  There  is  a  kind  of  momentum  in  life, 
which  carries  one  onward  with  accelerating  speed 
and  force  in  whatever  direction  he  is  going.  One's 
smallest  acts  are  big  with  destiny.  Does  this  seem 
to  make  life  a  fatal  and  inexorable  thing  ?  Well, 
there  are  tremendous  and  inevitable  conditions  that 
hedge  in  the  life  of  man.  There  is  an  apparent 
fatalism  about  all  this,  but  it  is  the  fatalism  of 
character.  There  is  a  tremendous  inveteracy  in  our 
deeds.  We  have  the  power  of  determining  what  our 
habits  shall  be,  but  when  once  these  habits  are 
formed  we  must  accept  the  result.  The  man  who 
chooses  the  left-hand  road  must  not  complain  be- 
cause he  is  not  rewarded  with  right-hand  goals. 
The  man  who  knowingly  takes  a  steamer  for  Liver- 
pool must  not  complain  because  he  is  not  landed 


PAST  THE  DEAD  POINTS.  129 

at  Hamburg.  The  man  who  puts  out  in  the  cur- 
rent that  carries  away  from  God  and  good,  must 
not  be  surprised  if  soon  or  late  he  goes  over  the 
falls.  This  life  of  man^s  is  no  haphazard,  chance 
thing.  No  ;  great  and  inevitable  conditions  shut 
him  in  on  every  side  ;  his  only  safety  consists  in 
knowing  these  conditions,  as  his  only  blessedness 
consists  in  adjusting  himself  to  the  nature  of 
things.  Character  is  the  sum  total  of  one^s  habits  ; 
and  character  is  destiny.  ^'  Heaven  is  character,^' 
said  Confucius.  Man  is  the  maker  of  his  destiny, 
because  he  is  the  maker  of  his  habits. 

II.  The  Place  of  Habit  iiq-  Mais^'s  Life. 

1.  In  man's  physical  life  this  law  ajoplies  with 
great  force.  Every  one  remembers  how  difficult  it 
was  to  learn  to  write.  At  the  head  of  the  page  were 
the  letters  to  be  copied,  but  somehow  the  hand 
could  not  form  the  letters  in  imitation  of  the  copy. 
But  hour  after  hour  we  practised  and  toiled,  till 
the  hand  acquired  a  certain  skill  and  dexterity. 
Now  the  letters  come  of  themselves  as  we  think 
them.  "We  stored  up  a  vast  amount  of  energy  in 
the  muscles  and  nerves  of  the  hand,  and  now  we 
form  the  letters  without  effort.  What  is  true  here 
is  true  in  all  parts  of  man's  physical  being.  Wm. 
B.  Carpenter  speaks  ''from  long  and  varied  ex- 
perience of  the  immense  saving  of  exertion  which 
arises  from  the  formation  of  methodical  habits  of 
mental  labor  ;  which  cause  the  ordinary  routine  to 
be  performed  with  a  far  less  amount  of  fatigue, 
9 


130  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

than  Avould  be  required  on  a  more  desultory  sys- 
tem'' (Mental  Physiology,  p.  350).  This  same 
writer  says  that  he  has  been  led  to  regard  military 
drill  as  an  important  part  of  education  ;  not  merely 
as  promoting  a  healthy  physical  development,  and 
as  preparing  every  youth,  if  occasion  should  re- 
quire, to  serve  in  the  ranks  of  national  defenders, 
but  even  more  for  the  moral  value  of  the  enforce- 
ment of  strict  order  and  discipline,  and  prompt  obe- 
dience to  the  Avord  of  command.  Wellington  said 
that  he  won  Waterloo  on  the  j)layground  at  Eton. 
This  is  how  Victor  Hugo  characterizes  the  two 
commanders  who  confronted  one  another  at  Water- 
loo. ^'  On  one  side,  precision,  foresight,  geometry, 
prudence,  a  retreat  assured,  reserves  prej)ared,  an 
obstinate  coolness,  imperturbable  method,  strategy 
profiting  by  the  ground,  tactics  balancing  bat- 
talions, carnage  measured  by  a  plumb-line,  war  reg- 
ulated watch  in  hand,  nothing  left  voluntarily  to 
accident,  old  classic  courage  and  absolute  correct- 
ness. On  the  other  side  we  have  intuition,  divi- 
nation, military  strangeness,  superhuman  instinct, 
a  flashing  glance  ;  something  that  gazes  like  the 
eagle,  and  strikes  like  lightning,  all  the  mysteries 
of  a  profound  mind,  association  with  destiny  ;  the 
river,  the  plain,  the  forest  and  the  hill  summoned 
and  to  some  extent  compelled  to  obey,  the  despot 
going  so  far  as  to  tyrannize  over  the  battle-field  ; 
faith  in  a  star  blended  with  strategic  science, 
heightening  but  troubling  it.  .  .  .  True  genius 
was   conquered  by    calculation.     On    both    sides 


PAST  THE  DEAD  POINTS.  131 

somebody  was  expected  ;  and  it  was  tlie  exact  cal- 
culator who  succeeded.  Napoleon  waited  for 
Grouchy  who  did  not  come  ;  Wellington  waited 
for  Bliicher  and  he  came''  (Les  Miser aUes). 

A  keen  observer  has  said  that  he  can  stand  at  a 
street  corner  and  tell  the  kind  of  work  that  nine 
out  often  persons  are  doing  by  the  way  they  walk, 
swing  their  arms  and  move  their  fingers.  Every 
man  is  binding  himself  in  cords  that  cannot  be 
broken.  By  choice  or  by  necessity  a  man  engages 
in  certain  kinds  of  work.  The  habitual  activity 
reacts  upon  the  mind  and  determines  the  habitual 
mode  of  thought.  Herodotus  tells  of  a  tribe  of 
Scythians  who,  during  the  absence  of  their  masters, 
had  taken  possession  of  their  property  and  homes. 
Several  battles  were  fought  and  the  slaves  proved 
themselves  good  soldiers.  Then  one  of  the  Scyth- 
ians proposed  another  line  of  attack  ;  he  ad- 
vised the  masters  to  lay  aside  their  bows  and 
spears  and  to  provide  themselves  with  whips.  The 
masters  advanced  against  their  old  slaves  cracking 
their  whips,  and  the  slaves  astonished  at  this,  for- 
got to  fight,  fled  in  confusion  and  were  easily  con- 
quered. Old  habit  was  stronger  than  new  resolve. 
2.  The  great  difference  between  men  is  found 
here  in  this  power  of  habit.  We  all  know  that  men 
come  into  the  world  differently  endowed  mentally, 
but  the  difference  in  actual  mental  capacity  is  not 
so  great  as  we  sometimes  suppose.  Men  differ 
most  widely  in  their  mental  habits,  in  those  habits 
which  count  so  much  in  life.     George  Eliot  defined 


132  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

genius  as  an  infinite  capacity  for  taking  pains. 
Biiffon  said  it  was  patience.  Sir  Isaac  N'ewton 
said  that  he  differed  from  other  men  only  in  the 
power  of  patient  thought.  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton  has 
declared  that  the  difference  between  an  ordinary 
mind  and  Newton^s  is  this  :  the  one  was  capable  of 
a  continuous  attention^  while  the  other  soon 
dropped  the  thread  of  thought  which  he  had  begun 
to  spin.  Expert  accountants  say  that  the  books  of 
nine  out  of  ten  bankrupts  are  in  a  muddle  ;  they 
have  been  kept  without  plan  or  method.  Many 
people  ignorantly  suppose  that  the  great  artists 
and  poets  of  the  world  have  done  their  great  work 
without  effort  and  practice.  No  greater  mistake 
can  be  made.  The  masterpieces  of  the  world  rep- 
resent an  amount  of  toil  that  is  appalling  to  the 
ordinary  man.  The  best  talent  in  this  world  is 
the  habit  of  careful,  continuous,  absorbing  work. 

Nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that  any  se- 
quence of  mental  action  which  has  been  frequently 
repeated  tends  to  perpetuate  itself  without  any  con- 
sciously formed  purpose.  The  same  thoughts  tend 
to  recur  whenever  the  same  circumstances  are 
present.  The  number  of  persons  who  have  com- 
plete control  of  their  habits  of  thought  is  exceed- 
ingly small.  We  are  all  too  much  at  the  mercy  of 
chance  incidents  and  accidents.  We  do  not  tliinh  ; 
we  only  allow  impressions  to  run  riot  in  our  minds. 
If  one  wants  to  know  how  little  control  he  has  over 
his  own  thought,  let  him  try  a  simple  experiment. 
Let  him  repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer  without  thinking 


PAST  THE  DEAD  POINTS.  133 

of  anything  else,  except  the  words  he  is  saying. 
Probably  not  one  person  in  ten  thonsand  can  do 
this.  The  man  who  has  formed  the  habit  of  con- 
tinuous, absorbing,  attentive  work  is  the  man,  all 
other  things  being  equal,  who  has  all  the  world 
before  him. 

3.  What  is  true  in  man's  physical  and  mental  life 
is  not  less  true  in  his  moral.  Habit  counts  for  as 
much  here  as  in  any  other  part  of  life.  In  our 
moral  life,  to-day  is  the  child  of  yesterday.  What  we 
are  to-day  we  shall  be  to-morrow,  only  a  little  more 
so.  Character  knows  no  breaks.  Most  people  are 
living  in  the  delusion  that  one  of  these  days  they 
will  drop  off  their  bad  habits  and  put  on  new  habits. 
Sad  delusion,  fatal  mistake  !  Men  appreciate  the 
wrongfulness  of  the  things  they  do  from  hour  to 
hour,  but  too  few  take  into  account  the  weight  of 
the  habit.  Agassiz,  it  is  said,  once  wanted  to  ex- 
amine the  interior  of  an  Alpine  glacier,  and  was 
lowered  by  two  men  into  a  deep  chasm.  He  gave 
the  signal  to  be  drawn  up,  but  the  men  who  had 
lowered  him  found  themselves  unable  to  raise  him 
out  of  the  pit.  They  had  calculated  the  weight 
of  his  body  and  the  weight  of  the  basket,  but  had 
forgotten  the  weight  of  the  rope  that  descended 
wijih  him.  The  explorer  was  obliged  to  remain  in 
the  pit  till  help  could  be  summoned.  The  weight 
of  the  rope  that  goes  down  with  one  into  the  pit 
of  habit  is  a  fact  in  this  universe,  and  the  wise  man 
takes  it  into  his  reckoning. 

Say  what  men  will  about  total  depravity,  man 


134  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

has  no  natural  talent  for  doing  right.  Eighteous- 
ness  is  a  kind  of  art  that  must  be  acquired,  like 
any  other  art.  A  recent  writer  has  called  his 
book  :  "  Conduct  as  a  Fine  Art.'^  The  title  is 
well  chosen  and  illustrates  a  great  truth.  Nine- 
tenths  of  the  vicious  desires  that  tempt  men  and 
degrade  society  would  shrink  into  comparative  in- 
sio-iiificance  before  the  advance  of  careful  self-dis- 
cipline,  self-control^  and  habitual  attention.  It  is 
by  the  watchful  and  continuous  exercise  of  these 
qualities  that  purity  of  heart,  control  of  imagina- 
tion, energy  of  will  are  secured,  and  built  up  into 
chastity,  temperance  and  force.  ^*^To  him  that 
hath  shall  be  given,  and  from  him  that  hath 
not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he 
seemeth  to  have."  To  him  who  loves  truth  more 
truth  shall  be  given.  The  tendency  of  good  is 
toward  more  good,  as  the  tendency  of  evil  is 
toward  more  evil.  Every  man  thus  becomes  his 
own  angel  or  his  own  nemesis.  Ephraim  made 
altars  to  sin  ;  and  altars  became  to  him  a  tempta- 
tion to  more  sin.  What  a  man  is,  he  continues  to 
be  ;  what  he  is  not  it  is  not  easy  to  become.  The 
man  who  is  earnest,  godly,  prayerful  to-day,  tends 
to  become  more  earnest,  more  godly,  more  prayer- 
ful to-morrow. 

No  man's  virtue  can  be  called  safe  and  strong 
till  it  has  become  habitual.  The  world  is  full  of 
men  who  have  good  impulses  in  plenty.  Brown- 
ing says  that  the  worst  man  knows  better  than  the 
best  man  does.     However  that  may  be,  any  man 


PAST  THE  DEAD  POINTS.  135 

may  know,  if  lie  will  follow  on  to  know.  But 
good  impulses  alone  are  the  most  vain  and  useless 
things  in  the  world.  ''  Hell  is  paved  with  good 
intentions/^  not  with  good  habits.  To  say  that  a 
man  has  good  impulses  is  often  the  worst  thing 
that  can  be  said  of  him.  Many  a  man  who  has 
plenty  of  good  impulses  is  slowly,  surely,  inevi- 
tably drifting  down  toward  the  bottomless  pit. 
Habit  ensures  permanence  in  good  courses  ;  it  also 
ensures  permanence  in  evil  courses.  Habit  car- 
ries a  man  heavenward  or  hellward  with  equal  force 
and  irresistibleness.  ^'  He  that  is  unrighteous,  let 
him  do  unrighteousness  yet  more  ;  and  he  that  is 
filthy,  let  him  be  made  filthy  yet  more ;  and  he 
that  is  righteous,  let  him  do  righteousness  yet 
more  ;  and  he  that  is  holy,  let  him  be  made  holy 
yet  more^'  (Rev.  22  :  11,  E.  V.  and  margin).  A 
systematic  organization  of  the  habits  of  life  is  the 
necessary  means  toward  all  progress  in  right  char- 
acter. The  wing  of  right  and  habitual  resolution, 
which  is  so  mighty  to  lift  us  nearer  God,  can  only 
be  formed  by  patient  continuance  in  right  doing, 

III.  The  Right  Habits  which  go  i>y^TO  the 
Making  op  Right  Chakactee.  AYithout  at- 
tempting to  go  into  detail  it  may  be  worth  while 
to  notice  a  few  of  those  habits  which  are  so  all- 
important  in  the  formation  and  maintenance  of 
right  life.  AYe  mention  three  or  four  activities  of 
the  progressively  right  life  which  it  is  not  safe  to 
leave  unregulated.     It  is  all  very  well  to  speak  of 


136  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

"  spontaneous  goodness, ''  but  spontaneous  good- 
ness that  amounts  to  much  is  the  overflow  of  a 
regulated  soul. 

The  man  whose  piety  is  left  to  chance  impulses 
will  have  a  most  irregular  and  fluctuating  piety. 
Unless  he  has  acquired  considerable  momentum, 
he  will  stick  at  the  dead-points.  I  remember,  as 
a  boy,  when  riding  with  my  father,  seeing  him 
whip  up  the  horses  before  he  came  to  a  bad  bit  of 
road.  The  momentum  usually  carried  us  through 
all  right.  One  must  learn  to  do  good  by  rule  and 
method,  before  he  will  be  able  to  do  good  by  im- 
pulse and  desire.  Here,  as  in  other  lines,  the  law 
is  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ. 

1.  Take  first  the  matter  of  prayer.  "  Evening, 
and  morning,  and  at  noon,  will  I  pray.'''  That 
was  what  we  may  call  systematic  piety,  methodical 
goodness,  clockwork  religion.  Some  one  at  once 
objects  to  this,  and  says  that  this  fosters  formalism 
and  hollowness.  Perhaps  it  does  ;  but  it  also 
promotes  true  piety  and  pray  erf ulness.  The  man 
who  has  formed  the  habit  of  prayer  at  certain 
times  and  places,  finds  that  time  and  place  have 
much  to  do  with  the  mood  of  prayer.  The  very 
fact  that  one  is  in  the  place  of  prayer,  on  his 
knees,  will  do  much  to  promote  the  prayerful 
spirit.  At  any  rate,  chance  impulses  cannot  be 
relied  on  in  this  matter  of  prayer.  Man's  needs 
are  daily,  hourly  needs  ;  his  consciousness  of  those 
needs  is  by  no  means  daily  or  hourly.  The  man 
who  does  not  pray,  except  when  he  feels  just  like 


PAST  THE  BEAD  POINTS.  137 

it,  will  not  pray  very  much.  The  prayerful  spirit 
comes  from  the  prayerful  habit.  A  man's  prayer 
in  the  morning  may  have  been  somewhat  cold  and 
formal,  but  he  is  far  more  likely  to  have  a  thought 
of  God  through  the  hours  of  toil,  because  of  this, 
than  if  he  had  neglected  prayer  because  he  was 
not  in  the  mood  for  it.  The  habit  of  prayer  will 
thus  carry  one  over  those  points  in  life  when  the 
spirit  flags  and  impulse  is  wanting.  There  are 
times  in  almost  every  life,  dead-points,  when  faith 
seems  all  gone,  impulse  is  weak,  the  spiritual 
life  seems  to  have  waned,  and  the  power  to  resolve 
is  lacking.  This  is  the  turning-point  in  life,  the 
test  of  character.  Happy  is  he  whose  life  has  ac- 
quired sufficient  momentum  to  carry  the  man  over 
these  dead-points. 

Of  Daniel  in  Babylon,  we  read  that  three  times 
a  day  he  made  his  prayers  unto  God.  Three  times 
a  day  he  was  to  be  found  in  the  same  place,  at  the 
same  window,  with  his  face  turned  in  a  certain 
direction.  Some  one  makes  light  of  this,  and  says 
that  it  is  mere  clockwork  religion,  arithmetical 
piety,  methodical  goodness.  Perhaps  so  ;  but  it  is 
well  to  remember  that  Daniel  was  a  perfectly  safe 
man  in  any  emergency.  It  was  possible  to  fore- 
cast the  spiritual  latitude  and  longitude  of  that 
man  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night.  And  that 
is  probably  a  hundred  times  as  much  as  can  be 
said  of  the  man  who  is  prayerful  by  impulse  and 
feeling. 

2.  A  habit  of  Bible  study  is  also  most  valuable.  If 


138  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

the  Bible  is  what  men  believe  it  to  be,  the  revela- 
tion of  the  person,  character,  and  will  of  the  eternal 
God,  if  it  is  the  record  which  God  gave  of  his  Son, 
if  the  truths  therein  defined  are  able  to  make  men 
wise  unto  salvation,  surely  men  should  become 
familiar  with  this  book.  The  common  objection 
is  made  that  men  have  not  time  for  full,  elaborate, 
or  even  extensive  study  of  the  Scriptures.  Life  is 
to  the  average  man  a  hard  and  engrossing  struggle 
for  existence,  and  not  much  time  can  be  given  in 
any  day  to  study.  But  probably  not  one  joerson 
in  ten  thousand  is  so  driven  as  to  make  systematic 
and  regular  Bible  study  impossible.  Fifteen 
minutes  a  day  spent  in  careful  and  thoughtful 
study  of  the  Bible  will,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  give  one  a  very  satisfactory  idea  of  the  great 
teachings,  persons,  events,  lessons,  of  the  Scripture 
record.  By  all  means  let  this  study  be  regular  and 
systematic.  Desultory  Bible  reading,  like  every- 
thing else  desultory,  is  almost  barren  of  results. 
He  is  the  healthy  man  whose  appetite  is  regular 
and  who  is  always  hungry  at  certain  times.  Regu- 
larity in  eating  is  at  once  a  sign  of  health  and  a 
cause  of  health.  However  it  may  be  with  man's 
body,  his  soul  needs  its  food  at  regular  hours  and 
in  daily  portions.  Joshua  is  charged  to  meditate 
upon  the  book  of  the  law  day  and  night,  and  is 
assured  that  then  he  shall  make  his  way  prosper- 
ous, and  then  he  shall  have  good  success.  Bible 
study,  like  prayer,  cannot  be  left  to  chance  im- 
pulse and  feeling.     For  with  almost  every  one. 


PAST  THE  DEAD  POINTS.  139 

there  are  times  when  impulse  is  wanting ;  the  life 
comes  to  one  of  its  dead-points.  This  is  the  time 
of  all  others  when  the  man  most  needs  the  Bible. 
The  days  in  which  we  feel  least  like  prayer  and 
Bible  study,  are  the  very  days  in  which  we  most 
need  them.  He  who  has  formed  the  habit  of 
prayer  and  Bible  study  has  acquired  sufficient 
momentum  of  soul  to  carry  him  past  these  seasons 
without  failure  or  spiritual  decline.  Habit  thus 
conserves  one^s  best  impulses  and  makes  them  effi- 
cient in  oner's  weakest  hours.  Habit,  like  the  fly- 
wheel on  the  engine,  keeps  the  motion  of  life  steady 
and  unbroken,  and  distributes  the  force  of  man^s 
better  moods  equally  over  the  whole  of  life. 

3.  What  is  true  of  prayer  and  Bible  study  is  true, 
none  the  less  of  all  forms  of  Christian  service. 
To  be  a  disciple  of  Christ  means  to  engage  in  some 
kind  of  work  for  others.  It  is  for  each  disci23le  to 
kuow  his  own  a^^titudes  and  to  follow  the  leadings 
of  the  Spirit.  Xo  rule  can  be  laid  down  as  to  the 
kind  and  amount  of  such  work  that  shall  be  done. 
But  whatever  is  done,  let  it  be  done  by  system. 
If  one  determines  to  do  personal  work,  let  him 
form  the  habit  of  daily  exercise.  The  presence  of 
the  habit  of  doing  good  will  make  one  watchful  of 
opportunities.  Mrs.  Browning  has  said  :  ^^  Most 
people  are  kind,  if  they  only  think  of  it."  The 
habit  makes  one  think  of  it.  What  a  world  this 
would  soon  become  if  it  had  a  few  more  persons  with 
the  well-formed  habit  of  doing  good  !  In  work  of 
any  kind  faithfully  and  regularly  done,  there  comes 


140  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

a  fine  training  for  body,  mind,  and  spirit.  One  thing 
is  certain :  the  man  who  does  good  only  when  the  im- 
pulse is  strong  will  do  good  very  irregularly.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  world  more  unreliable  than  chance 
impulse,  nothing  more  evanescent,  nothing  more 
irregular.  The  man  who  desires  to  make  and 
maintain  a  fine  Christian  character  will  make  his 
best  moments  the  standard  for  his  worst.  He  will 
form  some  high  and  worthy  purpose  in  life,  and 
will  then  resolutely  set  to  work  to  form  habits  in 
fulfillment  of  that  purpose.  In  this  way  the  best 
impulses,  the  highest  resolves,  the  choicest  aspira- 
tions are  conserved,  and  their  power  is  distributed 
evenly  and  equally  over  the  whole  of  life. 

4.  This  truth  is  capable  of  almost  indefinite  ex- 
pansion and  application.  Of  all  the  habits  that 
are  of  value  to  man,  none  can  be  of  greater  service 
than  the  reading  habit  in  general.  Literature  is 
one  of  the  important  facts  of  modern  life.  We  are 
the  people  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  ages  are 
come.  The  printing-press  has  made  accessible  to 
the  lowliest,  the  best  that  has  been  thought  and 
said  in  this  world.  The  newspaper  is  omnipresent, 
and  everybody  reads  it.  There  is  little  difficulty 
in  persuading  people  to  read  :  whether  they  read 
harmfully  or  helpfully  is  quite  another  question. 
Many  persons  read  nothing  but  the  newspapers,  on 
the  plea  that  they  have  no  time  for  more  substan- 
tial and  regular  reading.  But  this  plea  of  "  Xo 
time,"  is  in  nearly  every  case  a  transparent  apology 
for  indifference,  or  shiftlessness,  or  irregularity. 


PAST  THE  BEAD  POINTS.  141 

How  strange,  how  tragic,  that  so  many  are  content 
to  spend  all  their  spare  time  dozing  over  a  news- 
paper, when  the  eternal  books  of  the  world  are  un- 
known to  them  !  But  here,  as  elsewhere,  much 
depends  upon  the  habit  one  has  formed.  The 
reading  habit,  like  all  others,  is  capable  of  indefi- 
nite cultivation.  A  taste  for  the  great  books,  in 
some  cases,  may  have  to  be  acquired ;  the  books 
best  worth  reading  are  not  always  the  easiest  read- 
ing. They  demand,  as  they  merit,  careful  and 
painstaking  thought  and  attention.  But  this  habit 
can  easily  be  acquired,  and  when  acquired  it  be- 
comes a  source  of  the  keenest  delight,  a  never- 
failing  spring  of  helpfulness,  a  continual  safeguard 
against  evil.  Give  a  boy  a  taste  for  good  books, 
form  in  him  the  reading  habit,  and  you  need  not 
have  fears  for  that  boy^s  future.  Well  might  Fene- 
lon  say  :  ^'  If  the  crowns  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
empire  were  laid  at  my  feet  in  exchange  for  my 
books  and  my  love  of  reading,  I  would  s|)urn  them 
all." 

The  pressure  of  modern  life  makes  extensive 
reading  for  the  majority  of  persons  impossible. 
But  this  is  all  the  more  reason  why  the  fragments 
of  time  should  be  well  used  and  richly  treasured. 
This  time  is  almost  sure  to  be  wasted,  unless  it  is 
safeguarded  and  directed  by  system.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  whole  world  of  mankind  thinks  itself 
busy,  when  it  is  wasting  an  untold  amount  of  time. 
Perhaps  not  one  person  in  a  hundred  has  any  idea 
of  the  amount  of  time  he  wastes  every  day.     What 


142  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

is  more,  he  cannot  know,  till  he  has  resolutely  set 
to  work  to  employ  usefully  every  moment.  The 
habit  of  being  usefully  employed  in  reading  is  one 
of  the  best  safeguards  against  wasting  time  in  idle 
gossip,  in  dissipating  newspaper-scanning,  or  in 
useless  dreaming.  An  inch  of  time  every  day  di- 
rected by  system  and  earnestly  hoarded  will  accom- 
plish wonders.  Sir  John  Lubbock  used  that  inch 
of  time  out  of  banking  hours,  and  became  an 
authority  on  prehistoric  studies.  John  Stuart 
Mill  wrote  his  greatest  book  while  closely  engaged 
in  the  India  Office.  Elihu  Burritt,  the  black- 
smith, used  his  inch  of  time,  and  became  one  of 
the  foremost  linguists  of  his  age.  As  a  rule  it 
will  appear  that  the  great  books  of  the  world  have 
been  written  by  busy  men,  by  men  who  have  toiled 
while  others  slept  and  have  saved  the  moments 
which  others  wasted.  The  habit  of  regular  me- 
thodical work  wall  accomplish  wonders  here  below. 
It  is  not  so  much  lack  of  time  that  hinders  men, 
as  lack  of  method,  lack  of  habit,  lack  of  pur- 
pose. The  man  who  is  determined  to  excel  must 
cease  saying  that  he  has  no  time  for  prayer,  no 
time  for  Bible  study,  no  time  for  God's  work,  no 
time  for  reading,  no  time  for  anything,  Men 
prate  over  their  busy  lives,  and  then  coddle  them- 
selves with  the  thought  that  they  have  no  time. 
"  Where  there's  a  will,  there's  a  way."  The  habits 
that  are  required  for  the  efficient  prosecution  of 
any  work  are  within  the  possibility  of  all  ;  they 
are    application,    attention,    accuracy,    method. 


PAST  THE  DEAD  POINrS.  143 

punctuality,  thouglitfulness,  regularity.  The  man 
who  has  formed  these  habits  has  all  the  world  open 
before  him  ;  all  the  possibilities  of  the  noblest 
living  and  achieving  are  his.  Some  may  sneer  at 
these  things  as  trifles,  unworthy  of  notice  and 
cultivation.  But  as  the  highest  mountain  is  made 
up  of  grains  of  sand  ;  so  the  greatest  life  is  made 
up  of  trifles.  As  the  cents  make  the  dollars,  and 
the  seconds  make  the  hours  ;  so  the  aggregation 
of  things  insignificant  makes  up  human  character. 
The  regular  repetition  of  little  things  makes  cha- 
racter ;  and  character  makes  life  and  destiny. 
The  whole  philosophy  of  life  may  be  summed  up 
in  a  sentence  :     Begin  right,  then  keep  on  going. 


CHAPTER' YI. 

THE   LESS   HOKOEED   VIRTUES. 

And  having  done  all  to  stand.  Stand  therefore.— The  Apostlb 
Paul. 

Drop  thy  still  dews  of  quietness, 

Till  all  our  strivings  cease  ; 
Take  from  our  souls  the  strain  and  stress  ; 

And  let  our  ordered  lives  confess 
The  beauty  of  thy  peace. 

Breathe  through  the  heats  of  our  desire 

Thy  coolness  and  thy  balm  ; 
Let  sense  be  dumb,  let  flesh  retire  ; 
Speak  through  the  earthquake,  wind  and  fire, 
O  still,  small  voice  of  calm. 

— J.  G.  Whittier  :  The  Brewing  of  Soma. 

We  need  resolutely  and  with  pious  obstinacy  to  set  this  temper 
before  us,  for  it  is  not  natural  to  our  hearts.  Even  the  best  of  us, 
in  the  excitement  of  our  work,  forget  to  think  of  anything  except 
of  making  our  mark,  or  of  getting  the  better  of  what  we  are  at 
work  upon.  When  work  grows  hard,  the  combative  instincts 
waken  within  us,  till  we  look  upon  the  characters  God  has  given  us 
to  mould  as  enemies  to  be  fought.  We  must  ever  remember  that 
we  are  not  warriors  but  artists, — artists  after  the  fashion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  who  came  not  to  condemn  life  because  it  was  imperfect,  but 
to  build  life  up  to  the  image  of  God.  Creation  is  the  certificate  that 
no  moral  effort  is  a  forlorn  hope. — George  Adam  Smith  :  Isaiah. 

Maist,  it  has  been  observed,  is  a  creature  of 
moods  and  tenses.  But  he  is  also  a  creature  of 
voice  as  well.  He  is  a  man  of  limited  experience 
whose  life  can  be  conjugated  in  one  mood  or  tense ; 


(144) 


THE  LESS  HONORED  riBTUES.  145 

and  he  is  a  man  of  no  less  limited  character  whose 
qualities    can  be    comprehended   in    one    voice. 
Henry  Martyn  has  said  that  life  is  summed  up  m 
three  things:    "to   believe,  to   suifer,  to  love 
The  qualities  which  go  to  the  making  of  right 
character  are  many  and  various.     The  world  has 
made  much  of  the  active  virtues  of  life;  it  has 
admired  the  forceful,  the  impetuous,  the  darmg, 
the  self-confident.     Jesus  Christ  the  Master  m  Vir- 
tue, makes  much  of  what  may  be  called  the  passive 
virtues      He  commends  and  blesses  the  graces  of 
humilitv,  contentment,  patience,  and  forgiveness. 
Christianity  shows  its  pre-eminence,  its  finality,  m 
the  balance  it  maintains  in  life  in  making  excel- 
lence of  character  consist  in  the  harmonious  com- 
bination of  many  forms  of  virtue.     Harmony  in 
music  is  the  happy  blending  of  many  tones  and 
not  the  monotonous  repetition  of  one  note,     ihe 
pure  white  light,  spectrum  analysis  shows,  is  the 
-harmonious  combination  of  the  various  prismatic 

''°The  ideal  of  the  world  is  very  diflerent  from  the 
ideal  of  Christ.  The  world  inclines  to  honor  the 
more  conspicuous  and  forceful  graces  of  life ;  it 
notices  the  great  flaring  chrysanthemum  sooner 
than  the  humble  violet  hiding  in  the  grass  and 
only  betraying  its  presence  by  its  quiet  fragrance. 
It  is  a  fine  and  Christly  thing  to  wage  a  good  war- 
fare when  the  battle  is  on  ;  but  it  is  no  less  a  fine 
and  Christly  thing  to  stand  on  guard  and  wait  tor 
the  daylight.     Since  we  are  concerned  with  the 


lO 


146  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

whole  round  of  Cliristian  character^  it  is  fitting 
that  we  should  consider  the  Citizen  when  called 
upon  to  endure  and  suffer  and  be  patient.  They 
serve  the  Lord  who  fight  dragons,  withstand  wrong, 
and  do  exploits.     But 

"  Tliey  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait." 

I.  The  Place  which  the  Passive  Yietues 
Hold  iiq"  the  Cheistiaj^  View  of  Life.  A  great 
philosopher  has  said  that  we  need  a  revised  philos- 
ophy of  life.  However  that  may  be,  many  of  the 
opinions  and  sentiments  that  ai*e  current  among 
men  greatly  need  revising  and  Christianizing.  On 
no  question  does  opinion  need  revising  more  ur- 
gently, than  on  this  question  of  what  is  great  arid 
heroic  in  life.  Different  ages  and  different  peoples 
have  cherished  different  opinions  of  what  consti- 
tutes greatness.  Among  the  Greeks  he  was  the 
great  man  who  possessed  beauty  of  body  and  strength 
of  limb,  who  could  handle  the  sword  and  spear  skill- 
full}^ and  never  turned  back  to  the  foe.  Among 
the  Romans  the  ideal  hero  was  the  military  leader, 
who  had  braved  the  hardships  of  war,  crushed  his 
enemies,  and  conquered  new  territory  for  Rome. 
Our  Saxon  ancestors  had  their  own  ideas  and  ideals 
of  virtue  and  greatness.  In  their  oj)inion  the 
chief  glory  of  man  consisted  in  warlike  achieve- 
ments on  the  field  of  battle.  An  ancient  song  de- 
clares :  '^  He  who  has  never  been  wounded  lives  a 
weary  life."  Among  them  it  was  counted  a  re- 
proach to  reach  old  age  and  die  of  some  disease. 


THE  LESS  HONORED  VIRTUES.  147 

The  way  to  heaven  lay  through  devastated  towns 
and  across  the  bodies  of  fierce  enemies.  They  be- 
lieved that  the  soul  of  the  warrior  who  fell  on  the 
battle-field  passed  at  once  to  the  paradise  of  Odin, 
where  he  was  blessed  in  being  permitted  to  drink 
delightful  meads  from  the  skulls  of  his  enemies. 
Some  of  the  blood  of  those  old  Saxons  flows  in  our 
veins,  and  though  centuries  have  passed,  and  we 
have  wandered  far  from  the  old  home,  we  have 
not  cast  off  the  ancestral  ideals,  and  our  blood  has 
not  yet  become  wholly  cooled  to  more  temperate 
views.  Among  all  races  and  in  all  ages  the  man 
of  great  physical  strength  and  courage  has  been 
proclaimed  chief  and  king.  To-day  the  warlike, 
the  strong,  the  forceful,  the  dashing,  the  successful, 
receive  a  large  share  of  public  praise  and  admira- 
tion. We  build  monuments  to  the  great  military 
leader  ;  w^e  weave  chaplets  and  lay  them  upon  the 
graves  of  the  brave  soldiers  ;  we  bow  in  respect 
before  the  man  who  by  force  and  skill  has  won 
his  w^ay  to  wealth  and  position. 

Xot  for  a  moment  can  we  make  less  of  these 
more  heroic,  more  active,  more  forceful  virtues. 
Without  the  moral  energy  which  lies  at  the  root  of 
these  virtues,  the  tenderest  attachments  of  life 
and  the  most  precious  graces  of  the  spirit  degen- 
erate more  or  less  into  weaknesses  and  immoral- 
ities. Still,  in  any  right  view  of  character,  we 
must  notice  those  complemental  virtues  which  be- 
long to  the  more  inward  and  passive  side  of  life. 
Eight  here  Christianity  makes    issue  with  the 


148  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

whole  world  on  the  question  of  what  constitutes 
human  greatness  and  perfection.  To  do  and  dare 
is  with  the  world  a  sign  of  greatness  and  courage  ; 
to  bear  and  suffer  is  the  mark  of  Christian  worth. 
The  doctrine  of  the  cross  is  the  proclamation  of 
a  new  law  of  life  and  a  new  kind  of  glory.  To 
Paganism,  the  most  ignoble  service  in  life  was  bur- 
den-bearing and  suffering  ;  to  Christianity,  the 
service  of  suffering  and  burden-bearing  is  of  all 
others  the  noblest  and  divinest.  Over-emphasis 
is  always  wrong.  It  is  possible  to  cultivate  one 
set  of  virtues  at  the  expense  of  another,  and  thus 
the  character  becomes  one-sided  and  imperfect. 
Christianity  declares  its  pre-eminence,  its  sanity,  in 
the  balance  it  maintains  among  the  virtues.  It 
teaches  us  to  see  that  these  two  forms  of  virtue 
are  the  complement  the  one  of  the  other.  A  man 
all  meekness,  and  patience,  and  forgiveness  is  a 
poor  specimen  of  Christian  virtue.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  man  all  energy  and  force  and  enthusiasm 
lacks  some  of  the  necessary  graces  of  Christian 
character.  Bearing  and  suffering  are  as  much  a 
part  of  life  as  doing  and  daring. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Lord  Jesus  gives 
great  emphasis  to  these  virtues  in  his  life  and  teach- 
ing. The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  in  fine 
phrase  has  been  called,  ^'  The  Magna  Charta  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God, "  opens  with  a  series  of  beati- 
tudes on  character.  The  order  of  these  beatitudes 
is  worthy  of  notice  ;  and,  as  we  proceed,  we  shall 
see  how  widely  the  words  of  the  Master  differ  from 


THE  LESS  HONORED  VIRTUES.  149 

the  words  o£  other  teachers.     We  shall  see  how 
squarely  they  out  across  the  ideas  and  opmions  of 
the  world.      Popular   opinion   estimates  men  by 
what  they  have  ;  Jesus  pronounces  men  bessed  for 
what  they  are.     Jesus  is  not  talking  at  random 
when  he   utters   these   beatitudes.     These   eight 
beatitudes  describe  not  so   much   eight  separate 
classes  of  men,  as  one  man  in  whom  are  found 
eicht  characteristic  virtues  of  thekmgdom     They 
picture  a  Christly  development  of  life  from  blessed- 
ness to  blessedness,  from  its   first  begmmng  m 
poverty  of  spirit,  to  its   perfected   righteousness 
with  God.     The  Christian  disciple  must  go  down 
into  the  Valley  of  Humility,  before  he  can  stand 
upon  the  heights   of   the   Delectable   Movrntams 
owned  and  glorified  as  the  Son  of  God.     Blessed 
are  the  poor  in  spirit ;  blessed  are  they  that  mourn 
blessed  are  the  meek.     Before  Christ  finishes  the 
sermon  we  shall  see  this  poor,  mournmg,  meek 
man,  filled  with  righteousness,  given  a  vision  ot 
God,  and  manifested  among  men  as  the  son  of  the 
Highest.     The  man  who  is  poor,  sorrowful,  and 
meek  to  the  very  core  is  all  emptied  of  self.     He 
has  gone  down  into  the  Valley  of  Humility,  a.d 
patiLce  and  penitence  have  had   their   perfect 
work      Out  of  his  conscious  nothingness  the  man 
turns'  and  hungers  and  thirsts  after  the  righteous- 
ness of  God.     And  three  elements  of  this  righ  eous- 
Ts   aenamed.    Blessed  are  the  merciful  ;  blessed 
Tre  the   pure   in   heart ;   blessed  are  the  peace 
makers.  'tL  in  a  closing  beatitude  the  Master 


150  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

illustrates-  the  relation  of  his  disciple  to  the  ex- 
ternal world.  The  disciple  who  will  follow  the 
Master  whithersoever  he  goeth,  will  suffer  persecu- 
tion ;  he  will  be  misunderstood  and  maligned  ;  in 
the  world  the  disciple  shall  find  no  paradise  but 
only  persecution.  ^'  Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall 
revile  you  and  persecute  you,  and  shall  say  all 
manner  of  evil  against  you  falsely,  for  my  sake. 
Rejoice,  and  be  exceeding  glad  :  for  great  is  your. 
reward  in  heaven  :  for  so  persecuted  they  the 
prophets  which  were  before  you."  All  through 
the  sermon  the  Master  shows  the  importance  and 
place  of  these  more  j^assive  virtues  of  life.  His 
disciples  are  not  to  resist  evil  ;  they  are  to  bear 
scorn  and  blows  with  resignation  and  patience  ; 
only  thus  shall  they  show  that  they  are  indeed  the 
children  of  the  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 

These  virtues,  which  for  want  of  a  better  name 
are  called  passive  virtues  receive  in  the  life  and 
teaching  of  Christ  a  new  emphasis  and  importance. 
So  long  as  the  world  is  as  it  is,  men  are  apt  to  over- 
look these  more  quiet  and  unobtrusive  virtues. 
Men  tell  us  that  without  courage,  self-assertive- 
ness  and  pride  we  shall  not  be  able  to  maintain 
ourselves.  Humility  and  meekness,  patience  and 
contentment,  with  many  people  savor  of  weakness 
and  servility.  But  Jesus  Christ  knew  better  than 
we  ;  for  he  took  a  broad  outlook  over  the  entire 
field  of  the  spiritual  world.  From  this  large  out- 
look we  see  that  these  virtues  of  courage  and  re- 
sistance have  played  a  much  smaller  part  in  the 


THE  LESS  HONORED  VIRTUES.  151 

world's  progress  than  the  world  has  supposed.     In 
the  name  of  science  men  have  told  us  that  the  law 
of  progress  is  struggle  for  existence  with  survival 
of  the  fittest.     So  men  have  imagined  that  they 
must  oppose  strength  with  strength,  meet  exaction 
by  exaction,   match  cunning  with   cunning,  and 
conquer   evil   by   resentment.     But   a  truer  and 
larger  view  of  life,— that  true  and  large  view  which 
Jesus  gives— shows  the  utter  futility  and  fatuity  of 
all  this.     Evil  may  for  the  moment  check  evil,  and 
exaction  may  for  the  time  match  exaction,  but  they 
cannot  exterminate  evil   and    exaction.      Tolstoi 
deserves  the  thanks  of  all  men  for  calling  emphatic 
attention  to  some  of  the  neglected  sayings  of  the 
Son  of  man.     With  persistent  and  singular  force 
he  shows  the  utter  futility  of  attempting  to  over- 
come evil  by  evil  and  force  by  force.     ''  Accord- 
ing to  Christ's  teaching  the  good  are  the  meek  and 
longsuffering  ;  do  not  resist  evil  by  force,  forgive 
injuries,  and  love  their  enemies  ;  those  are  wicked 
who  exalt  themselves,  oppress,  and  strive,  and  use 
force"   {''  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  Within  You," 
p.  243).     Again  :  ''  But  besides  corrupting  public 
opinion,  the  use  of  force  leads  men  to  the  fatal 
conviction  that  they  progress,  not    through  the 
spiritual   impulse   which   impels   them  to  the  at- 
tainment of  truth  and  its  realization  in  life,  and 
which  constitutes  the  only  source  of  every  pro- 
gressive movement  of  humanity,  but  by  means  of 
violence,   tire  very  force  which,  far  from  leading 
men  to  truth,  always  carries  them  further  away 


152  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

from  it.  This  is  a  fatal  error,  because  it  leads 
men  to  neglect  the  chief  force  underlying  their 
life— their  spiritual  activity — and  to  turn  all  their 
attention  and  energy  to  the  use  of  violence,  which 
is  superficial,  sluggish,  and  most  generally  perni- 
cious in  its  action  ^^  (Ibid.  p.  256). 

The  efficiency  of  these  passive  virtues  in  society 
cannot  well  be  overestimated.  More  things  are 
wrought  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  and 
humble  contentment  with  life,  than  this  world  sup- 
poses. A  cai-eful  and  profound  writer  has  said 
that  "  the  productive  power  of  virtue  is  found 
only  in  virtue  ;  under  this  higher  and  more  spirit- 
ual law,  we  see  that  our  proper  defensive  weap- 
ons, and  even  offensive  ones,  are  the  passive 
virtues.  Out  of  the  quiet  endurance  of  the  un- 
ruffled spirit  there  proceeds  the  only  true  spirit  of 
conquest.  ...  It  is  the  immediate  result  of  any 
kind  of  evil  to  extend  itself  under  its  own  terms  " 
(Bascom  :  The  Words  of  Christ,  p.  125).  One  day 
when  the  disciples  wanted  to  call  down  fire  from 
heaven  on  a  village  of  inhospitable  Samaritans,  the 
Master  told  them  that  they  had  neither  learned  his 
spirit  nor  did  they  really  know  their  own.  By  such 
means  his  kingdom  could  never  be  advanced  one 
hair's  breadth.  When  arrested  in  the  garden  he 
deprecated  the  use  of  violence  on  the  part  of  his 
disciples  :  "  They  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish 
with  the  sword."  Anger  kindles  more  anger, 
force  leads  to  more  force,  resistance  to  evil  places 
too  much   honor  on  resistance.     The   Christian 


THE  LESS  HONORED  VIRTUES.  153 

disciple  is  called  to  resist  steadfastly  every  form 
of  evil,  but  he  must  ever  remember  that  the 
weapons  of  his  warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty 
through  God  in  the  casting  down  of  principalities 
and  powers,  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this 
world,  and  spiritual  powers  of  evil  in  heavenly 
places.  Christ  comes  to  destroy  the  works  of  the 
devil,  to  conquer  the  world  for  God,  and  to  bring 
in  his  kingdom.  And  he  does  this  work,  not  by 
the  might  of  fleets  and  armies,  but  by  the  gentle- 
ness of  love  and  the  power  of  his  cross.  When 
lifted  up,  he  gains  the  power  of  drawing  all  men 
unto  himself.  Nothing  disarms  opposition  like 
gentleness,  as  nothing  conquers  hate  like  love. 
James  Stalker  tells  of  a  young  man  from  the 
country  who  entered  a  countingroom  where  the 
daily  conversation  was  so  foul  and  profane  that  it 
would  almost  have  disgraced  the  hulks.  But  a 
month  after  his  arrival  not  a  man  in  the  place 
dared  to  utter  an  unchaste  or  profane  word  when 
he  was  present.  And  this  change  was  wrought  with 
hardly  a  syllable  of  reproof  ;  it  was  the  conquest 
of  foulness  by  purity,  it  was  darkness  hiding  it- 
self before  the  light.  The  old  fable  of  the  Greeks 
illustrates  this  truth.  One  day  the  wind  and  the 
sun  had  a  dispute  as  to  which  was  the  stronger. 
They  finally  decided  to  try  their  powers  on  a  pass- 
ing traveller.  The  wind  blew  in  great  cold  blasts 
upon  the  man,  tugging  at  his  cloak  and  trying  to 
wrest  it  from  him.  But  the  colder  and  harder 
the  wind  blew,  the  tighter  the  man  drew  the  cloak 


154  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

in  around  his  body.  Finally  the  sun  took  its 
turn ;  it  threw  a  warm  ray  down  upon  the  man, 
and  soon  he  opened  his  arms  and  before  long 
threw  off  the  great  garment.  "  Arrogance  and 
pride  shut  us  out  of  the  spiritual  treasures  of  the 
world.  .  .  .  The  blossom  does  not  unfold  itself 
more  coyly  to  the  warm  touch  of  light  than  does 
the  human  spirit  to  the  gentleness  of  the  human 
spirit.  Pride  and  scorn  hedge  up  the  only  paths 
by  which  we  can  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as 
one  of  affection.  We  must  find  our  way  into  the 
grottoes  that  open  on  the  sea,  when  the  sea  is  at 
rest.  Boisterous  waves  will  only  bring  shipwreck 
at  the  entrance.  Especially  would  meekness  seem 
to  be  an  unsuitable  virtue  with  which  to  subject 
the  world,  yet  the  promise  is,  the  meek  shall 
inherit  the  earth"  (Bascom  :  ibid.  p.  126). 

Not  only  are  these  virtues  among  the  most  effi- 
cient in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  they  are 
among  the  most  necessary  in  the  development  of 
character.  They  give  coherence  and  balance  to 
the  soul  and  keep  it  calm  and  strong.  Many  a 
man  is  enthusiastic  without  being  patient,  and 
forceful  without  being  humble.  To  hold  one's 
self  well  in  hand  is  the  first  step  toward  any  great- 
ness. "  He  that  ruleth  his  spirit,"'  says  the  wise 
man,  ^'  is  better  than  he  that  taketh  a  city."  The 
mind  of  man  never  puts  forth  such  continuous 
and  effective  power  as  when  it  is  composed  and 
coherent.  The  querulous  and  discontented  spirit 
is  far  from  being  the  spirit  of  Christ.     Yet  many 


THE  LESS  HONOBED  VIRTUES.  155 

a  man  who  is  zealous  and  forceful  is  sadly  lacking 
in  patience  and  contentment.  His  whole  soul  is  in 
disorder  and  confusion,  and  he  never  is  fully 
master  of  himself  or  of  his  resources.  His  im- 
patience and  discontent  color  all  he  does,  and 
make  his  character  appear  sadly  defective  and 
almost  repulsive.  He  becomes  impatient  with 
men,  unloving,  uncharitable,  unforgiving,  and  his 
whole  life  is  vitiated  at  its  very  spring.  It  is  to 
be  noted  that  those  whom  Christ  pronounces  great 
are  not  such  as  the  world  esteems  its  great  ones. 
Among  the  Gentiles  those  who  exercise  lordship 
over  men  are  called  kings  ;  and  they  that  exercise 
authority  upon  them  are  called  benefactors.  But 
it  shall  not  be  so  among  you.  But  he  that  is 
greatest  among  you,  let  him  be  as  the  younger ; 
and  he  that  is  chief,  as  he  that  doth  serve. 

No  one  can  study  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ  without  seeing  how  marked  are  the  virtues 
of  patience,  meekness,  trust,  forgiveness.  With 
a  great  work  to  do,  with  the  world  appealing  to 
him  for  help,  he  is  never  hurried,  never  impatient, 
never  confused.  ^^Many  a  man  will  go  to  his 
martyrdom  with  .a  spirit  of  firmness  and  heroic 
composure,  whom  a  little  weariness  or  nervous  ex- 
haustion, some  silly  prejudice,  or  caj^ricious  op- 
position, would,  for  the  moment,  throw  into  a  fit 
of  vexation  or  ill-nature.  .  .  .  And  here  precisely 
is  the  superhuman  glory  of  Christ  as  a  character, 
that  he  is  just  as  perfect,  exhibits  just  as  great  a 
spirit,  in  little  trials  as  in  great  ones.     In  all  the 


156  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

history  of  his  life  Ave  are  not  able  to  detect  the 
faintest  indication  that  he  slips  or  falters.  And 
this  is  the  more  remarkable,  that  he  is  prosecuting 
so  great  a  work,  with  so  great  enthusiasm  ;  count- 
ing it  his  meat  and  drink,  pouring  into  it  all  the 
energies  of  his  life.  For  when  men  have  great 
works  on  hand,  their  very  enthusiasm  runs  to  im- 
patience. When  thwarted  or  unreasonably  hin- 
dered, their  soul  strikes  lire  against  the  obstacles 
they  meet,  they  worry  themselves  at  every  hin- 
drance, every  disappointment,  and  break  out  in 
stormy  and  fanatical  violence.  But  Jesus  for  some 
reason  is  just  as  even,  just  as  serene  in  all  his  petty 
vexations  and  hindrances,  as  if  he  had  nothing  on 
hand  to  do.  A  kind  of  sacred  patience  invests 
him  everywhere.  .  .  He  is  poor,  and  hungry,  and 
weary,  despised,  insulted  by  his  enemies,  deserted 
by  his  friends,  but  never  disheartened,  never 
fretted  or  ruffled.  ...  He  does  not  seem  to  rule 
his  temper,  but  rather  to  have  npne,  for  temper, 
in  the  sense  of  passion,  is  a  fury  that  follows  the 
will,  as  the  lightnings  follow  the  disturbing  forces 
of  the  winds  among  the  clouds,  and  accordingly 
where  there  is  no  self-will  to  roll  up  the  clouds, 
and  hurl  them  through  the  sky,  the  lightnings 
hold  their  equilibrium  and  are  as  though  they 
were  not"  (Bushnell :  ''Nature  and  the  Super- 
natural," p.  294).  The  force  and  beauty  of  these 
words  must  be  sufficient  justification  for  their 
quotation. 


THE  LESS  HONORED  VIRTUES.  157 

II.  The  Analysis  of  Some  of  These  Passive 
Virtues. 

Huinility.  By  the  men  of  this  world  humility 
is  looked  upon  as  a  sign  of  weakness  rather  than 
of  strength.  Not  even  by  those  who  profess  and 
call  themselves  Christians  is  humility  always 
looked  upon  as  an  essential  and  noble  virtue.  But 
in  reality  it  lies  at  the  root  of  all  that  is  great  and 
fine  in  Christian  character.  No  character  can  build 
very  high  that  has  not  its  foundations  laid  deep 
in  the  virtue  of  humility.  Humility — that  means 
keeping  one's  self  in  the  background,  rejoicing 
when  others  are  honored,  stepping  aside  to  make 
place  for  another.  Andrew  Murray  is  constrained 
to  say,  ''  Alas,  how  much  proof  there  is  that 
humility  is  not  esteemed  the  cardinal  virtue,  the 
only  root  from  which  the  graces  can  grow,  the  one 
indispensable  condition  of  fellowship  with  Jesus." 
John  the  Baptist  has  for  some  months  filled  a 
large  place  in  the  eye  of  the  Jewish  nation.  But 
before  long  the  crowds  leave  him  to  follow  another. 
Now  comes  the  severest  trial  to  which  any  man 
can  be  subjected.  One  day  a  few  faithful  dis- 
ciples come  to  him  complaining  of  the  way  men 
have  forsaken  him,  and  saying  :  ^^  All  men  are  fol- 
lowing this  One  whom  you  baptized."  But  a  glad 
light  comes  into  the  eyes  of  the  Baptist  as  he 
says  :  "  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease. 
Men  are  leaving  me  to  follow  him  ?  Then  my 
joy  is  fulfilled."  Besides  this  humility  of  John 
the  brave  self-assertiveness  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte 


158  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

is  bub  as  the  dust  of  the  balances.  One  day  when 
there  was  a  quarrel  in  the  apostolic  company  over 
the  question  of  who  should  be  greatest  in  the 
Kingdom,  the  Master  placed  a  little  child  in  the 
midst  and  said  :  "  Whosoever  therefore  shall  hum- 
ble himself  as  this  little  child,  the  same  is  greatest 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Striking  almost  be- 
yond the  power  of  words  is  that  incident  in  the 
upper  room,  in  Jerusalem.  After  a  dispute  about 
places  of  honor  at  the  table  the  company  finally 
get  seated,  but  one  important  act  has  been  omitted. 
Each  man  knows  what  is  wanted,  but  no  man  will 
humble  himself  to  do  the  task  of  a  menial  and 
wash  the  feet  of  the  others.  We  read:  "Jesus 
knowing  that  the  Father  had  given  all  things  into 
his  hands,  and  that  he  was  come  from  God  and 
went  to  God," — does  what  ?  What  is  the  most  strik- 
ing thing  that  he  can  do  when  the  Divine  conscious- 
ness within  him  is  at  flood  tide  ?  "He  poureth 
water  into  a  basin  and  began  to  wash  the  disci- 
ples' feet,  and  to  wipe  them  with  the  towel  where- 
with he  was  girded." 

Sometimes  the  best  way  to  exhibit  a  Christian 
virtue  is  to  name  its  contrary  vice.  Pride  and 
humility  are  the  opposites  the  one  of  the  other. 
Pride  plumes  itself  on  some  advantage  that  it  pos- 
sesses real  or  fancied  ;  it  exalts  itself  over  others 
and  says  :  See  how  much  more  deserving  I  am 
than  you.  Arrogance  and  pride  not  only  keep 
one  out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  they 
hedge  up  the  only  path  by  which  one  can  enter. 


THE  LESS  HON  OB  ED  VIRTUES.  159 

*'  Heaven's  gates  are  not  so  highly  arched 
As  princes'  palaces  ;  they  tliat  enter  there 
Must  go  upon  their  knees." 

One  cannot  too  carefully  guard  his  spirit  against 
pride  and  arrogance.  '^'^  Let  him  consider  how  all 
want  of  love,  all  indifference  to  the  need,  the  feel- 
ings, the  weakness  of  others ;  all  sharp  and  hasty 
judgments  and  utterances,  so  often  excused  under 
the  plea  of  being  outright  and  honest ;  all  mani- 
festations of  temper  and  touchiness  and  irritation  ; 
all  feelings  of  bitterness  and  estrangement,  have 
their  root  in  nothing  but  pride,  that  ever  seeks  it- 
self, and  his  eyes  will  be  opened  to  see  how  a  dark, 
shall  I  not  say  a  devilish,  pride  creeps  in,  almost 
everywhere,  the  assemblies  of  the  saints  not  ex- 
cepted" (Andrew  Murray:  Humility).  There 
can  be  no  Christian  greatness  where  humility  is  not. 
Conte7itment ,  This  signifies  a  mind  at  leisure 
with  itself,  a  soul  that  accepts  whatever  comes  to 
it  without  repining  and  without  murmuring.  Two 
things  are  the  direct  opposites  of  contentment  : 
worry  and  ambition.  '^  Children,"  said  a  good 
man  to  the  friends  gathered  around  his  death-bed, 
'^children,  during  my  life  I  have  had  a  great 
many  troubles,  most  of  which  never  happened." 
Worrying  is  at  once  one  of  the  most  unreasonable 
things  that  a  man  can  do,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most 
harmful.  Dean  Hodges  has  said  in  striking 
phrase,  speaking  of  the  anxious  and  nervous  ways 
of  men  :  '''St.  Martha  is  the  patron  of  the  women 
and  St.  Vitus  of  the  men."    Because  of  this,  men 


160  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

are  fretful,  complaining,  distracted.  They  come 
to  distrust  themselves,  to  distrust  others,  and  to 
distrust  God. 

And  amtitmi — who  can  adequately  portray  the 
evils  and  dangers  of  ambition  ?  Ambition  in  itself 
may  be  a  perfectly  right  thing  ;  but  the  word  has 
come  to  have  a  sinister  meaning  because  of  its 
almost  unvarying  abuse.  Purpose  in  life  is  most 
necessary,  and  the  desire  to  excel  is  most  right. 
No  first-rate  life  can  be  content  to  drift,  as  no 
high  character  can  be  formed  from  low  aims.  No 
man  is  ever  better  than  his  purest  aspiration,  his 
noblest  ideal,  his  longest  thought.  But  ambition, 
which  is  a  desire  for  place  and  power  becomes  one 
of  the  most  tyrannical  and  iniquitous  things,  when 
place  and  power  are  sought  for  their  own  sakes. 
The  desire  for  place  and  power  is  one  of  the  things 
most  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  To 
reign  over  men,  to  have  power  to  command  them, 
has  for  long  ages  been  the  consuming  passion  of  men. 
But  this  love  of  power  has  been  the  source  of  un- 
told misery  among  men.  "  If  any  crime,"  says 
Channing,  ^'should  be  placed  beyond  pardon  it  is 
this."'  Well  may  Ruskin  say  :  ''Nothing  is  done 
beautifully  which  is  done  in  rivalship,  nor  nobly 
which  is  done  in  pride. "" 

On  the  other  hand,  what  a  blessed  thing  is  con- 
tentment. In  a  spirit  of  restless  discontent  men 
are  running  hither  and  thither,  seeking  for  rest, 
for  fame,  for  money.  They  are  wearing  their 
lives  out,  growing  old  before  their  time,  losing  all 


THE  LESS  HONORED  VIRTUES.  161 

joy  and  satisfaction  in  life.  "  Thy  lot  or  portion 
in  life,"  said  the  Caliph  Ali,  ''  is  seeking  after 
thee  ;  therefore  be  at  rest  from  seeking  after  it." 
'*  All  things  come  round  to  him  who  waits,"  says 
the  old  proverb.  One  may  be  diligent  in  business 
and  fervent  in  spirit,  one  may  seek  to  excel  and 
may  be  eager  to  do,  and  still  be  contented  and 
happy.  Contentment  is  at  once  a  Christian  grace 
and  a  Christian  duty.  More  than  once  in  Scrip- 
ture we  are  bidden  to  be  content  with  such  things 
as  we  have,  for  God  has  said  :  *^  I  will  never  leave 
thee,  nor  forsake  thee."  "Having  food  and 
raiment,"  says  the  apostle  Paul,  "let  us  there- 
with be  content."  Godliness  with  contentment 
we  are  also  told  is  great  gain.  Euskin,  that  keen 
observer,  has  given  a  most  striking  bit  of  experi- 
ence showing  how  common  is  this  spirit  of  dis- 
content. He  made  a  Journey  one  day  across 
England  and  noticed  his  fellow  passengers  in  the 
train  and  on  the  stations.  At  Carnforth  he  saw 
the  passengers  crowded  together  in  the  station- 
shed  waiting  for  the  up  train.  "I  did  not  see 
one,  out  of  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  persons, 
tidily  dressed,  nor  one  with  a  contented  and 
serenely  patient  look.  Lines  of  care,  of  mean 
hardship,  of  comfortless  submission,  of  gnawing 
anxiety,  or  ill  temper,  characterized  every  face." 
On  the  train  he  watched  his  fellow-travelers  with 
some  curiosity,  and  found  the  same  general  trace 
of  discontent  and  ill  temper  in  every  face.  Busi- 
ness men,  sporting  men,  young  women,  middle- 
II 


162  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

aged  spinsters,  all  told  the  same  story  in  characters 
more  or  less  marked.  "  But  the  first  broad  sum 
of  fact,  for  the  sake  of  which  I  have  given  this 
diary,  is  that  among  certainly  not  less  than  some 
seven  or  eight  hundred  people,  seen  by  me  in  the 
course  of  this  day,  I  saw  not  one  happy  face,  and 
several  hundreds  of  entirely  miserable  ones  '' 
(Fors  Clavigera,  lxix). 

"  Patience  is  in  the  estimation  of  some  a  mere 
drudge  among  the  virtues  ;  and  regarded  as  being, 
if  necessary,  yet  but  servile  in  her  character.  In 
Scripture  she  is  a  queen,  magnanimous  and  digni- 
fied "  (W.  R.  Williams.  Religious  Progress,  p. 
134).  Temper  has  been  defined  as  nine-tenths  of 
Christianity.  Certainly  it  is  one  of  the  tests  of  a 
man^s  religion.  In  lower  realms  nine-tenths  of 
what  men  call  genius  is  simply  talent  for  hard, 
persevering,  patient  work.  The  impatient  man  is 
in  -such  a  hurry  to  reach  his  goal  that  he  defeats 
himself  by  his  very  eagerness.  Patience  is  the 
ability  to  labor,  to  w\ait,  to  suffer  calmly,  hope- 
fully. The  men  whose  names  stand  high  in  the 
worlds  of  literature,  art,  science  and  religion,  are 
the  men  w^ho  knew  how  to  toil  terribly,  men  who 
knew  how  to  form  a  plan,  and  patiently,  unfalter- 
ingly follow  it  for  long  years.  Day  after  day  they 
toiled  on,  each  day  adding  a  little  to  their  stores 
of  knowledge,  each  day  writing  a  line,  or  retouch- 
ing a  feature,  or  gaining  a  new  experience. 

The  impatient  man  lives  a  discontented  and  con- 
fused life.     He  is  forever  running  against  himself 


THE  L^SS  HONORED  VIRTUES.  163 

and  thwarting  himself.  He  becomes  ill-tempered 
and  querulous,  and  loses  control  of  his  powers. 
''  Whoever  is  out  of  patience/'  says  Lord  Bacon, 
"  is  out  of  possession  of  his  soul.  Men  must  not 
turn  bees,  and  kill  themselves  in  stinging  others  !  " 
''  The  peculiarity  of  ill-temper/'  says  Pl'ofessor 
Drummond,  ''  is  that  it  is  the  vice  of  the  virtuous. 
It  is  often  the  one  blot  on  an  otherwise  noble 
character.  You  know  men  who  are  all  but  per- 
fect, and  women  who  would  be  entirely  perfect, 
but  for  an  easily  ruffled,  quick-tempered  or  touchy 
disposition.  This  compatibility  of  ill-temper  with 
high  moral  character  is  one  of  the  strangest  and 
saddest  problems  of  ethics.  .  .  .  No  form  of  vice, 
not  worldliness,  not  greed  of  gold,  not  drunken- 
ness itself,  does  more  to  un-Christianize  society 
than  evil  temper.  For  embittering  life,  for  break- 
ing up  communities,  for  destroying  the  most 
sacred  relationships,  for  devastating  homes,  for 
withering  up  men  and  women,  for  taking  the 
bloom  off  childhood,  in  short,  for  sheer,  gratui- 
tous misery-producing  power,  this  influence  stands 
alone."  The  story  is  told  of  an  emperor  of  China, 
how  one  day  passing  through  his  dominions,  he 
came  to  a  house  where  the  master  and  his  wife, 
his  children,  and  his  servants  all  lived  together  in 
perfect  harmony.  The  emperor  was  struck  with 
admiration  and  inquired  the  means  used  in  pro- 
ducing this  happy  result.  The  old  man  took  out 
a  pencil  and  wrote  three  words — Patience — Pa- 
tience—Patience.    "  Patience  is  power/'  says  an 


164  THE  NEW  CITIZEN SBJP. 

eastern  proverb.  "With  time  and  patience  the 
mulberry  leaf  becomes  satin."  "I  have  not  so 
great  struggle  with  my  vices,  great  and  numerous 
as  they  are/'  said  Calvin,  "as  I  have  with  my  im- 
patience. My  efforts  are  not  absolutely  useless ; 
yet  I  have  never  been  able  to  conquer  this  fero- 
cious wild  beast."  "It  is  our  patience  which  is 
the  touchstone  of  our  virtue,"  says  Amiel.  No 
wonder  the  apostle  Peter  should  place  patience  in 
the  list  of  Christian  graces  between  temperance 
and  godliness. 

Patience  has  often  been  travestied  and  counter- 
feited. Sometimes  a  stoical  apathy  or  an  affected 
obduracy  to  physical  suffering  has  been  dignified 
by  the  name  of  patience.  Sometimes  it  has  been 
made  to  appear  as  a  weak  indifference  to  all  error 
and  wickedness.  The  man  who  is  meek  and  pa- 
tient in  the  presence  of  wrong,  through  tameness  or 
want  of  self-respect,  or  from  fear,  deserves  no 
honor.  Patience  is  the  resolute  holding  in  of  one's 
self  through  principle ;  it  is  gentleness  full  of 
energy  ;  it  is  forbearance  curbing  the  soul's  pas- 
sion ;  it  is  passion  subjecting  itself  to  reason  and 
religion.  Patience  is  the  one  virtue  which  most 
truly  betokens  strength  of  character.  It  is  not 
easy  for  a  man  whose  soul  is  a  flaming  passion  for 
righteousness  and  truth  to  be  always  calm  and 
patient.  The  man  who  is  sure  of  himself  and  sure 
of  his  cause  is  the  man  who  is  most  patient  and 
calm.  The  little  boy,  who  knows  nothing  of  seeds 
and  nothing  of  nature's  laws,  digs  down   in  the 


THE  LESS  HONORED  VIRTUES.  165 

gronnd  the  next  day  to  see  what  has  become  of  the 
seed  he  planted.  Jesus  Christ  the  Great  Husband- 
man was  the  most  patient  of  men.  Nothing  dis- 
concerted him,  nothing  discouraged  him,  nothing 
surprised  him,  nothing  made  him  impatient.  He 
knew  just  what  to  expect  in  this  world  of  weak 
and  wandering  human  wills.  The  bad  and  gross 
and  foul  things  that  mingle  so  inexplicably  with 
the  good  ought  not  to  be  taken  as  a  matter  of 
course.  But  the  Master  sees  these  things  just  as 
they  are,  and  takes  them  all  into  account  in  his 
plans  for  his  kingdom.  It  is  not  easy  for  one  who 
has  Christ's  vision  to  have  Christ's  patience. 
"  The  trouble  is,^'  said  Theodore  Parker,  "  God  is 
not  in  a  hurry,  but  I  am.^'  The  beloved  apostle 
beheld  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  where- 
in dwells  righteousness.  And  now,  after  the  toil 
and  sorrow  and  delay  of  two  thousand  years,  men 
wait  for  the  realization  of  that  dream.  "  Unless 
the  prophet  shall  share  equally  in  the  vision  and 
the  patience  of  God,  he  will  run  the  earth  wild, 
he  will  end  in  despair"  (Gordon  :  Christ  of  To- 
Day,  p.  73).  Patience  for  life,  patience  in  service, 
are  quite  as  necessary  as  zeal  and  devotion. 

Character  is  Christian  character  only  in  so  far  as 
it  is  more  harmonious,  more  consistent,  more  lov- 
able than  all  other  character.  These  passive  vir- 
tues may  not  bulk  so  large  in  the  eyes  of  men  as 
the  more  active  virtues  ;  they  may  not  attract  so 
much  attention  as  their  more  conspicuous  and 
complemental  virtues.     But  they  are  most  neces- 


1G6  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

sary  to  the  full-orbed  manhood  in  Christ  Jesns. 
''  AVe  no  sooner  forecast  the  future  broadly^  we  no 
sooner  come  under  the  government  of  an  omni- 
present constructive  idea,  than  we  find  occasion 
for  patience,  that  we  may  not  be  unduly  fretted 
by  delay  ;  for  forgiveness,  tliat  we  may  cut  short 
none  of  the  forces  which  work  for  success  ;  for 
meekness,  that  we  ourselves  may  enter  with  a 
chastened  and  obedient  spirit  into  this  kingdom 
of  harmony  and  love^'  (Bascom  :  The  Words  of 
Christ,  p.  44).  It  is  quite  as  important  that  Pil- 
grim retain  his  roll,  as  that  he  withstand  Apollyon. 
To  bear  toil  with  patience,  to  stand  and  wait,  to 
be  long-suffering  and  forbearing  with  revilers, 
will  try  the  temper  of  the  finest  virtue,  as  they 
will  prove  the  touchstone  of  the  finest  character. 
The  New  Citizen,  who  is  armed  only  with  offensive 
weapons  is  but  half  armed.  In  the  apostle's  cata- 
logue of  the  Christian  soldiers  armor  the  girdle  of 
truth  is  as  important  as  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  ; 
the  shield  of  faith  is  as  necessary  as  the  shoes  of 
readiness.  Thus  and  thus  only  will  the  good 
soldier  of  Jesus  Christ  be  perfect,  thoroughly 
furnished  unto  every  good  work,  and  thoroughly 
prepared  for  every  trial. 


CHAPTER  VIL 

THE   TRAi^SFIGURED  TASK. 

And  whatsoever  ye  do  in  word  or  in  deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  giving  thanks  to  God  the  Father  through  him. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Colossians. 

It  is  not  the  theoretical  unbelief  of  to-day  that  troubles  me ;  it  is 
the  practical  ungodliness.  The  worst  denial  is  not  the  denial  of 
the  name  of  God,  but  of  the  reign  of  God,  and  his  reign  is  every- 
where denied  whenever  men  confess  that  he  is,  but  live  as  if  he  had 
no  kingdom,  no  law  to  govern  the  individual,  to  be  incorporated  or 
realized  in  the  society  or  the  state.  Men  have  been  too  anxious  to 
limit  religion,  to  keep  it  as  they  think  to  its  own  province  and 
work,  forgetting  that  the  province  of  religion  is  the  whole  man  and 
the  whole  life  of  all  men.— Prin.  A.  M.  Fairbairn. 

O  Thou,  whose  love  is  not  confined  to  temples  made  with  hands, 
enlarge  my  heart  to  worship  Thee.  Help  me  to  see  Thee  where 
men  see  only  the  world,  to  hear  Thee  where  men  hear  only  the 
voices  of  the  crowd.  Enlarge  the  range  of  my  experience.  Teach 
me  to  realize  the  awful  solemnity  of  the  things  that  I  call  common. 
Impress  me  with  the  truth  that  the  meanest  household  duty  is  a 
service  of  Thee,  that  the  smallest  act  of  kindness  is  a  praise  of 
Thee,  that  the  tiniest  cup  of  water,  though  it  were  given  only  in  a 
disciple's  name,  is  a  worship  and  a  love  of  Thee.  Help  me  to  feel 
thy  presence  evei-y where,  that  even  in  the  prosaic  haunts  of  men 
and  in  the  commonplace  battles  of  life  I  may  be  able  to  lift  up 
mine  eyes  and  say,  "  This  is  none  other  than  the  house  of  God, 
this  is  the  gate  of  heaven." — George  Matheson. 

Salyatiox  is  a  change  of  heart,  before  it  is  a 
change  of  place.  The  New  Jerusalem  is  an  ex- 
perience before  it  is  a  home.  Heaven  enters  the 
man  before  the  man  enters  heaven.     The  eternal 


(167) 


168  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

life  and  the  eternal  world  are  not  future  facts  but 
present  realities.  The  Christian  life  is  the  mani- 
festation in  time  of  the  life  of  eternity.  The 
Cliristian  disciple  who  passes  from  death  unto  life 
passes  oat  of  the  realm  of  the  temporal  and  secular 
into  the  kingdom  of  the  eternal  and  the  sacred. 
He  lives  in  the  kingdom  of  redemption  which  is  a 
present  kingdom.  God  has  become  all  in  all  to 
him ;  in  God  all  men,  all  societies,  all  worlds  live 
and  move  and  have  their  being.  He  sees  God  in 
all  things  and  all  things  in  God.  Here  and  now 
the  glory  of  God  fills  the  world  ;  the  light  of  God 
rests  upon  the  city  in  which  he  dwells  ;  the  glory 
of  God  lightens  every  street  and  the  presence  of 
God  transfigures  every  task. 

The  New  Citizen  enters  into  the  Christian  con- 
ception of  life ;  and  his  life  becomes  the  applica- 
tion of  the  Christian  principle. 

I.  The  Christiak  Con'ception'  of  Life. 

Eeligion,  like  life,  has  its  stages  of  growth  and 
development.  Here,  as  in  nature,  it  is  first  the 
blade,  then  the  ear,  and  after  that  the  full  corn  in 
the  ear.  Judaism  was  a  divine  religion  so  far  as  it 
went,  but  it  was  neither  final  nor  complete.  We  do 
not  expect  to  find  a  fully  formed  Christian  concep- 
tion in  pre-Christian  times.  Judaism  assumed  that 
a  part  of  life  was  sacred  and  holy  unto  God.  Into 
the  week  there  projected  the  Sabbath  law  in  which 
one  seventh  of  a  man's  time  was  claimed  by 
Jehovah.     Concerning  the  other  six-sevenths  the 


THE  TRANSFIGURED  TASK,  169 

average  Jew  did  not  predicate  much  sacredness  ; 
that  one-seventh  was  God's  usually  was  interpreted 
to  mean  that  six-sevenths  were  man's.  The  Jew 
could  believe  also  that  the  temple  was  a  holy 
place,  but  somehow  that  signified  that  all  other 
places  were  unholy.  Certain  men  were  holy,  the 
priests  officiating  at  the  holy  altar  ;  but  the  aver- 
age Jew  felt  himself  to  be  a  very  common  and 
secular  person.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
thought  in  the  minds  of  some  of  the  great  prophets 
of  Israel,  the  rank  and  file  of  the  people  made 
religion  a  matter  of  times  and  places  and  forms. 
Sharply  drawn  is  the  distinction  between  the  clean 
and  the  unclean,  the  secular  and  the  holy. 

Jesus  Christ  makes  all  things  new.  Christianity 
fulfills  and  enlarges  Judaism,  and  in  a  sense  su- 
persedes it.  ''When  that  which  is  perfect  is 
come,  then  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done 
away.''  Many  of  the  old  ideas  and  distinctions  of 
Judaism  have  been  superseded,  swallowed  up,  and 
lost  in  the  greater  light  and  glory  of  the  Christian 
revelation.  The  star  of  the  morning  is  very 
beautiful,  as  it  rises  and  shines  to  herald  the  com- 
ing of  the  day;  but  by  and  by  the  orb  of  day 
wheels  up  over  the  horizon  and  the  light  of  that 
star  fades,  lost  in  the  greater  light  of  the  rising 
sun.  So  the  distinctive  light  of  Judaism  is  lost 
in  the  glorious  day-break  of  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness that  has  risen  upon  the  earth  never  to 
set.  Several  illustrations  of  this  truth  from  the 
New  Testament  are  sufficient  to  make  i)lain  the 


170  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

wide  difference  between  the  old  and  the  new.  One 
day  the  Lord  Jesus  sat  by  a  wellside  in  Samaria 
resting  while  his  disciples  were  buying  bread  in 
the  neighboring  village.  A  conversation  springs 
up  between  him  and  a  woman  who  comes  to  draw 
water  from  this  ancient  well.  As  the  conversation 
proceeds,  the  woman  sees  that  the  one  before  her 
is  no  ordinary  Jew  ;  soon  she  comes  to  the  con- 
clusion that  he  is  a  prophet.  Now  she  plies  him 
with  a  question,  an  old,  puzzling,  divisive  question, 
the  question  which  separated  Jew  from  Samaritan. 
Which  is  the  proper  place  in  which  to  worship 
God — Mount  Gerizim  or  Jerusalem  ?  Her  question 
reflected  the  imperfect  idea  of  religion  and  of 
worship  which  dominated  the  life  and  pervaded 
the  thought  of  Judaism,  the  idea  that  worship 
performed  in  one  place  is  more  acceptable  to  God 
than  worship  in  some  other  place  ;  that  the  ele- 
ments of  place  and  time  make  worship  acceptable  or 
unacceptable  unto  God.  "Wonderfully  significant 
is  the  reply  of  Jesus  :  "  Woman,  believe  me,  the 
hour  cometh,  when  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor 
in  Jerusalem  shall  ye  worship  the  Father.  God  is 
a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship 
in  spirit  and  in  truth. ■'^  In  the  light  of  these 
words  the  old  barriers  between  Jew  and  Samaritan 
fade  away  ;  tlie  distinction  between  the  sacred  and 
the  secular  disappears  ;  in  every  place  the  soul 
of  man  may  find  holy  ground  and  worship  God 
acceptably.  The  old  strife  of  men  about  Gerizim 
and  Jerusalem,  over  clean  and  unclean,  here  and 


THE  TRANSFIGURED  TASK.  171 

there^  becomes  meaningless  contention.  There  is 
no  place  more  holy  than  another,  no  city  in  which 
Gocl  is  peculiarly  present,  no  temple  in  which 
alone  he  is  found.  God  is  spirit,  and  place  and 
time  are  nothing  to  spirit. 

This  truth  comes  out  in  Paul's  letter  to  the 
Galatians.  ^'  But  now  that  ye  have  come  to  know 
God,  or  rather  to  be  known  of  God,  how  turn  ye 
back  again  to  the  weak  and  beggarly  rudiments 
whereunto  ye  desire  to  be  in  bondage  over  again  ? 
Ye  observe  days,  and  months,  and  seasons,  and 
years.  I  am  afraid  of  you,  lest  by  any  means  I 
have  bestowed  labor  upon  you  in  vain."  The  old 
life  that  these  Galatians  had  known  was  a  life  of 
slavery  to  rudiments,  a  life  full  of  fear  and  deg- 
radation. Their  gods  were  stern  and  implacable, 
and  the  worshiper  was  never  sure  that  the  gods 
were  sufficiently  propitiated.  To  these  men  there 
has  come  the  knowledge  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus ; 
they  have  become  partakers  of  his  glory,  and  life 
and  freedom.  Yet  here  they  are  turning  back  to 
Judaism,  going  back  into  a  slavery  almost  as  bad 
as  that  from  which  they  have  been  delivered.  The 
Jewish  people  did  not  worship  God  in  the  freedom 
of  the  spirit,  they  remained  in  the  bondage  of 
forms  and  times  and  place,  they  supposed  the 
divine  favor  to  depend  upon  such  things  as  the 
washings  of  pots  and  cups,  the  number  of  feet  one 
walked  on  the  Sabbath  or  the  posture  assumed  in 
prayer.  They  are  keeping  months,  and  seasons, 
and  days ;  they  are  making  acceptance  with  God 


172  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

depend  upon  the  accidents  of  time  and  place. 
The  principle  beneath  all  this  is  the  principle 
which  Jesus  enunciated  in  all  his  life  and  teach- 
ing :  the  whole  round  of  life  belongs  to  God,  and 
no  part  of  it  can  be  profane  and  secular  and 
unclean.  ''No  ceremony  is  of  the  essence  of 
Christianity.  No  outward  rite  by  itself  makes  a 
Christian'^  (Findlay  :  Galatians,  The  Expositor's 
Bible,  p.  439).  In  Christ  Jesus  the  middle  wall 
of  partition  between  God  and  •  the  world  is  broken 
down,  and  everything  is  claimed  by  God  and  for 
God.  In  his  letter  to  the  Corinthians  the  same 
principle  comes  into  view.  ''  Whether  therefore 
ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the 
glory  of  God'^  (1  Cor.  x.  31).  Every  meal  is  to  be 
a  real  supper  of  the  Lord,  partaken  in  his  spirit 
and  to  his  glory.  The  Breaking  of  Bread  ob- 
served in  the  church  gathering  on  the  Sunday  is 
not  the  only  meal  eaten  in  remembrance  of  Christ 
and  to  the  glory  of  God.  The  most  commonplace 
things  as  eating  and  drinking  share  in  the  common 
sanctity  of  the  Christian's  life.  He  who  truly 
knows  God  does  not  call  anything  common  nor 
unclean.  Akin  to  this  is  that  other  exhortation 
(1.  Cor.  vii.  20).  "  Let  each  man  abide  in  that  call- 
ing wherein  he  was  called.'^  There  is  no  form  of 
work  which  in  itself  is  secular,  as  there  is  none 
which  in  itself  is  sacred.  The  man  who  knows 
God  sees  that  life  is  a  great  and  divine  thing  ;  he 
sees  that  his  work  in  the  world  is  a  divine  appoint- 
ment.    In  becoming  a  Christian  one  does  not  need 


THE  TRANSFIGURED  TASK.  173 

to  change  his  trade  in  order  to  do  Christian  serv- 
ice, but  to  change  his  spirit.  The  most  common- 
place work  may  become  the  divinest  service. 

There  is  no  room  for  a  secular  interest  or  an  un- 
clean thing  in  a  world  so  full  of  God.  The 
prophet  Zechariah  foretells  a  day  when  the  divine- 
ness  of  all  things  shall  be  recognized.  ^'  In  that 
day  shall  there  be  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses 
HOLINESS  UXTO  THE  LORD  ;  and  the  pots  in 
the  Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the  bowls  before  the 
altar.  Yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem  and  in  Judah, 
shall  be  Holiness  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts  "  (Zech. 
xiv.  20,  21).  Here  we  have  the  very  essence  of  the 
spirit  of  Christianity.  In  Christianity  a  new  con- 
ception of  life  is  given  to  the  world  ;  and  the  man 
who  believes  in  Jesus  Christ  lives  in  a  new  world, 
a  divine  world.  The  old  distinction  between  the 
sacred  and  the  profane,  the  clean  and  the  unclean, 
passes  away  ;  everything  the  Christian  sees  and 
touches  bears  the  stamp  of  its  consecration  to  the 
Lord's  service.  Holiness  shall  be  introduced  into 
the  most  commonplace  things,  even  into  the  things 
once  thought  so  very  profane  and  common.  The 
very  harness  of  the  horses  in  the  street  shall  be 
holiness  unto  the  Lord.  The  pots  and  cups  in  the 
homes  of  the  people  shall  be  like  the  bowls  before 
the  altar.  The  whole  city  in  which  man  dwells, 
the  great  world  in  which  he  toils,  is  transfigured 
with  the  life  of  God  and  filled  Avith  his  glory.  No 
distinction  in  sacredness  shall  be  made  between 
the  earthen  pots  and  cups  in  the  home  and  the 


174  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

golden  cups  and  bowls  of  the  temple ;  the  work 
of  the  mechanic  and  the  work  of  the  preacher  are 
equally  holiness  unto  the  Lord.  The  man  who 
truly  knows  God  sees  God  in  everything  ;  he  cannot 
do  one  thing  apart  from  God. 

Most  people  feel  that  there  is  a  sad  division  run- 
ning through  life.  To-day,  after  all  these  cen- 
turies of  Christianity,  we  talk  of  the  sacred  and  the 
secular  ;  we  have  our  religious  history  and  our  pro- 
fane history  ;  we  have  our  religious  work  and  our 
secular  duties  ;  we  have  our  holy  days  and  places, 
and  our  secular  days  and  our  common  places.  We 
have  our  hours  of  devotion  on  the  mount,  when 
we  feel  that  it  is  good  to  be  here.  But  the  hour 
passes  and  we  must  arise  and  go  down  into  the 
world  to  mingle  with  the  common  and  secular 
things  of  life.  Somehow  there  comes  a  jar  and  a 
clash.  It  seems  that  we  are  living  in  two  separate 
spheres  and  that  we  must  divide  up  our  allegiance 
between  them.  What  is  given  to  one  side  of  life 
we  feel  is  so  much  taken  off  the  other  side.  I 
have  somewhere  read  of  a  religious  exquisite  who 
said  he  could  not  buy  a  barrel  of  flour  without 
losing  a  little  grace  by  it.  With  many  people 
spiritual-mindedness  means  an  aloofness  from  the 
common  affairs  of  life. 

Now  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  is  a 
sad  and  serious  mistake.  A  man^s  religion  is  for 
the  sake  of  his  life,  and  his  business  is  the  sphere 
of  manifestation  of  his  religion.  A  man's  prayer 
in  the  church  is  no  more  religious  than  his  trans- 


THE  TRANSFIGURED  TASK.  175 

action  over  the  counter.  Worship  that  means 
anything  is  a  preparation  for  service.  The  work 
of  the  week  is  as  much  an  act  of  religion  as  the 
act  of  kneeling  in  the  church  on  Sunday.  Before 
we  know  what  a  man's  prayer  and  w^orship  are 
worth  on  Sunday  we  must  know  how  he  lives  all 
the  week.  ''  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.'' 
We  observe  the  Lord's  Day,  the  first  day  of  the 
week  as  our  Sabbath.  It  is  the  beginning  of  days 
to  us,  the  token  that  all  the  week  is  holy  unto  the 
Lord.  Sunday  is  only  a  sample  of  what  all  the 
week  should  be.  The  church  building  is  a  sacred 
house,  but  it  is  only  a  type  of  what  every  house  in 
the  community  should  be.  The  Lord's  Supper  is 
a  sacred  meal,  eaten  in  remembrance  of  Christ ; 
but  it  sets  the  standard  for  every  other  meal. 
Christianity  is  not  a  religion  of  times  and  places, 
of  forms  and  ceremonials.  They  have  turned 
their  back  upon  Jesus  Christ  and  have  gone  back 
into  Judaism  with  its  bondage  to  the  law  and  the 
letter  who  would  make  it  so.  Sunday  is  a  holy 
day  ;  the  church  is  a  sacred  building,  the  Lord's 
Supper  is  a  holy  meal,  testifying  forever  to  the 
fact  that  all  other  days  and  houses  and  meals  are 
sacred  and  holy. 

The  boundary  line  between  the  secular  and  the 
sacred  is  not  in  things  but  in  men.  There  is  the 
secular,  the  common,  the  unclean,  but  it  is  not  a 
quality  of  things  but  a  matter  of  spirit.  ''  To  the 
pure,  all  things  are  pure  ;  but  to  them  that  are 
defiled  and  unbelieving,  nothing  is  pure."     ''  This 


176  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

universe/^  says  Eobertson  of  Brighton,  ''is  the 
express  image  and  direct  counterpart  of  the  souls 
that  dwell  in  it.  Be  noble-minded,  and  all  nature 
replies— I  am  divine,  the  child  of  God ;  be  thou, 
too,  his  child  and  noble.  Be  mean,  and  nature 
dwindles  into  a  contemptible  smallness.^^  Sin  in 
the  heart  of  man  turned  Eden  into  a  wilderness  ; 
holiness  of  heart  turns  the  wilderness  back  into 
the  garden  of  God.  Xothing  can  be  more  alien 
to  the  spirit  of  Christ,  nothing  can  be  more 
fatal  to  true  religion,  than  to  call  one  kind  of 
work  sacred  and  another  kind  secular.  Christ 
allows  no  such  gulf  to  separate  God  from  his 
world  ;  he  allows  no  distinction  between  the 
temple  of  prayer  and  the  place  of  toil.  In  itself 
one  kind  of  work  may  be  just  as  sacred  as  another. 
Preaching  sermons  may  be  done  in  a  most  profane 
spirit,  and  cobbling  shoes  may  be  a  most  sacred 
service.  Not  the  place  nor  the  act,  but  the  motive 
and  the  spirit  give  value  before  heaven.  The  roar 
of  machinery  in  the  mill  may  be  a  hymn  of  praise 
to  God ;  while  the  surging  of  the  church  organ 
may  be  an  abomination  before  him.  Paul  preached 
sermons  and  sewed  tents  with  equal  fervor  and 
piety.  Jesus  was  just  as  willing  to  w^ork  at  the 
carpenter's  bench  as  to  preach  the  sermon  on  the 
mount.  Anything  that  was  done  in  honor  of  the 
Father's  will  was  hallowed  unto  God.  History 
tells  of  the  way  the  old  Franks  had  of  treating 
their  kings.  They  honored  them,  kept  them  in 
magnificent  palaces,  but  allowed  them  very  little 


TEE  TRANSFIGURED  TASK.  177 

authority  in  the  everyday  affairs  of  government. 
Upon  special  occasions  the  king  was  brought  out 
to  grace  a  procession  or  to  honor  some  special 
event.  But  all  the  other  days  in  the  year  the 
kings  were  kept  in  reverential  impotence  and  use- 
less idleness.  That  is  just  what  many  people  do 
with  their  religion.  They  keep  it  for  Sunday 
and  the  house  of  God,  but  all  other  days  of  the 
week  and  in  all  other  places  they  manage  their 
affairs  with  little  reference  to  the  glory  of  God  or 
the  name  of  Christ. 

This  universe,  in  its  deepest  foundations,  is 
Christian.  The  Maker  puts  his  stamp  upon  his 
work ;  the  attributes  of  the  Maker  are  manifest 
in  all  that  he  has  made.  There  never  has  been  a 
time  when  Christ  was  absent  from  creation.  This 
is  not  the  devil's  world;  it  is  Christ's  world. 
Those  attributes  of  God  which  we  find  in  Christ 
are  the  moulds  in  which  the  whole  creation  is 
shaped.  This  universe  is  built  on  Christian  prin- 
ciples and  is  held  fast  in  the  arms  of  Christ's  love. 
There  is  an  upward  and  Christward  pressure  in 
all  things,  in  all  plants,  in  all  animals,  all  men, 
all  societies.  Christ  is  the  source  and  life  of 
creation,  and  creation  is  struggling  up  to  behold 
him,  to  become  like  him,  to  crown  him.  The  man 
who  really  knows  Jesus  Christ  sees  him  in  every- 
thing, in  every  plant,  in  every  bird,  in  every  rain- 
drop. He  finds  sermons  in  stones,  prophecies  in 
seeds,  love-messages  in  rain-drops,  and  theologies 
in  flowers.    The  music  of  the  running  brook  sings 

12 


178  TEE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

of  him  who  is  the  soul  of  music  ;  the  glory  of  the 
sunset  sky  tells  of  him  whose  person  is  all  glorious  ; 
the  procession  of  the  stars  and  the  outgoings  of 
the  morning  remind  him  of  the  One  who  is  the 
All-orderly  and  whose  works  are  all  in  truth. 

The  world  we  live  in  wholly  is  redeemed  ; 
Not  man  alone,  but  all  that  man  holds  dear  ; 
His  orchards  and  his  maize,  forget-me-nots 
And  heartsease  in  his  garden— all  the  wild 
Aerial  blossoms  of  the  untamed  wood 
Tliat  make  its  savagery  so  homelike — all 
Have  felt  Christ's  sweet  love  watering  their  roots. 
There  are  no  gentile  oaks,  no  pagan  pines  ; 
The  grass  beneath  our  feet  is  Christian  grass ; 
The  wayside  weed  is  sacred  unto  him. 

11.    The  Applications    of   this   Cheistian 

PEIiq"CIPLE. 

Christianity  is  the  most  real  and  practical  reli- 
gion in  the  world.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  we 
may  say  that  it  is  an  earth  religion.  Christianity 
is  not  so  much  the  revelation  of  some  invisible 
world,  as  a  manifestation  of  the  divine  glory  and 
the  divine  power  in  this  present  world.  Jesus 
Christ  has  come  to  transmute  and  transfigure  the 
dust  of  our  humanity  into  the  righteousness  and 
glory  of  the  living  God. 

With  this  Christian  conception  of  life  throbbing 
in  his  heartj  the  Christian  citizen  rises  in  the 
morning  and  goes  about  his  daily  tasks.  His  eye 
is  full  of  the  light  of  the  glory  of  God,  and  he  sees 
the  light  and  glory  of  God  filling  everything  and 


THE  TBANSFIGUBED  TASK.  179 

transfiguring  everything.  He  sees  that  his  work 
in  the  world  is  a  divine  calling  ;  his  occupation  is 
the  vantage  ground  from  which  he  reaches  forth  in 
service  of  his  fellows.  The  man  who  has  entered 
into  the  secret  and  meaning  of  the  Christian  life 
sees  that  his  work  is  given  him  by  divine  appoint- 
ment. He  hears  Paul  say,  ^'Paul,  an  apostle  by 
the  grace  of  God.''  And  he  says  just  as  devoutly, 
*a,  a  shoemaker  by  the  grace  of  God.  I,  a  mer- 
chant by  the  grace  of  God.  I,  a  manufacturer  by 
the  grace  of  God.  I,  a  miner  by  the  grace  of  God. 
I,  a  farmer  by  divine  calling. 

When  did  Jesus  begin  to  do  the  Father's  will  ? 
The  moment  we  think  of  it,  every  one  must  say 
there  never  was  a  time  wdien  he  was  not  about  the 
Father's  business.  Jesus  working  at  the  carpenter's 
bench  was  doing  the  will  of  God  as  truly  as  when 
preaching  the  sermon  on  the  mount.  A  table 
made  by  his  hands  would  bear  the  same  marks  of 
divine  sonship  as  the  sermon  on  the  mount.  Sup- 
pose we  had  some  article  of  furniture  which,  it  is 
claimed,  was  made  by  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth, 
a  table  or  chair.  There  seems  no  question  about 
it?  authenticity  ;  the  hand  that  was  nailed  to  the 
cross  made  this  table.  Reverently  we  turn  it  over, 
noting  carefully- the  workmanship.  We  find  that, 
it  is  a  plain  table,  and  is  somewhat  rudely  finished, 
owing  no  doubt  to  the  rude  and  imperfect  tools 
with  which  he  worked.  But  by  and  by,  we  come 
to  a  defect  in  the  workmanship  ;  we  find  that  three 
legs  are  properly  mortised  and  joined,  but  the 


180  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

fourth  is  only  glued  in  place^  in  imitation  of  a  mor- 
tise. In  surprise^  we  look  up  and  ask,  Who  made 
this  table  ?  For  reply  we  are  told,  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth. Who  was  this  Jesus  of  l^azareth  ?  we  fur- 
ther ask.  He  was  the  Son  of  God,  the  sinless 
man,  the  Teacher  and  Saviour  of  men.  Well,  then, 
he  did  not  make  this  table  ;  for  the  man  who  made 
it  was  not  even  a  good  man.  Either  Jesus  was 
not  a  good  man,  or  he  did  not  make  this  table. 
We  know  how  the  Master  prayed  to  the  Father, 
how  he  preached  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  how 
he  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  and  how  he  finally 
died  as  a  sacrifice  for  men  on  the  cross.  Then  we 
conclude  that  he  did  not  make  this  table.  But 
we  are  assured  he  did  ;  generations  of  men  have 
attributed  it  to  him.  Well,  it  does  not  matter 
what  tradition  says  :  He  did  not  make  this  table  ; 
the  man  who  made  it  was  not  a  good  man,  not  an 
honest  workman  ;  look  at  this  piece  of  dishonest, 
scamped  work.  No  amount  of  evidence  would  be 
sufficient  to  authenticate  such  a  table  as  that. 
Since  Jesus  was  here  in  the  world  to  reveal  God,  to 
glorify  the  Father,  his  whole  life,  from  beginning 
to  end,  was  a  divine  service.  In  a  word,  Jesus 
Christ,  by  his  life  on  earth,  has  shown  the  divine- 
■ness  of  all  life,  and  the  glory  of  all  work. 

Paul  made  tents  and  preached  sermons  with  equal 
fervency.  Some  of  his  letters  and  sermon  notes 
have  come  down  to  us,  and  the  world  has  called 
these  inspired  writings.  Suppose  we  had  a  piece 
of  tent-cloth  made  by  his  hand.     That  tent-cloth 


THE  TEANSFIGURED  TASK.  181 

would  bear  the  same  water-marks  of  inspiration 
that  his  letters  bear.  A  bit  of  intentionally  dis- 
honest or  careless  sewing  from  Paul's  hand  would 
invalidate  every  one  of  his  letters  and  brand  him 
as  a  fraud.  The  principle  is  plain  :  a  man's  work 
from  day  to  day  is  the  sphere  in  which  his  Chris- 
tian life  shows  itself.  The  man  who  does  dishonest 
work  on  Monday  cannot  make  an  honest  prayer  on 
Sunday.  The  mechanic  who  scamps  his  work 
scamps  his  religion.  The  Christian  spirit  cannot 
work  in  a  vacuum.  The  Christianity  of  Christ 
demands  that  the  whole  life  be  lived  out  under  the 
direct  dominion  of  the  Son  of  man  and  in  fulfill- 
ment of  his  spirit.  Christianity  has  its  mysteries 
which  reach  away  up  beyond  the  stars,  clear  to  the 
very  throne  of  God.  But,  for  all  that,  it  is  the 
religion  of  everyday  life  and  of  commonplace 
duties.  It  has  to  do  with  real  and  human  things, 
with  such  real  and  human  things  as  eating  and 
drinking,  buying  and  selling,  voting  and  working  ; 
it  is  the  religion  of  the  store,  the  home,  the  church, 
the  street,  the  hall  of  legislation,  the  counting- 
room.  Never  think  of  Christianity  as  something 
apart  from  life,  something  added  on  to  life,  some 
special  accomplishment,  as  music  or  painting. 
Eeligion,  the  religion  of  the  Son  of  man,  is  not  a 
thing  of  times  and  places,  of  cloisters  and  closets, 
not  a  thing  of  raptures  and  sentiments,  of  opinions 
and  feelings,  but  of  downright,  outright  determina- 
tion to  honor  the  will  of  God  in  everything  one 
does.     ''Without  human  life  to  act  upon,"  says 


182  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

Professor  Drummond,  ^'  without  the  relations  of 
men  with  one  another,  of  master  with  servant, 
husband  with  wife,  buyer  with  seller,  creditor  with 
debtor,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  Christianity/' 
The  daily  round  of  life  is  the  sphere  of  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Christian  principle. 

We  need  not  bid  for  cloister'd  cell 
Our  neighbor  and  our  work  farewell, 
Nor  strive  to  wind  ourselves  too  liigh 
For  sinful  man  beneath  the  sky. 

The  trivial  round,  the  common  task, 

Would  furnish  all  we  ought  to  ask  : 

Room  to  deny  ourselves  ;  a  road 

To  bring  us,  daily,  nearer  God.— Keble  :  Morning. 

The  Christianity  of  Christ  claims  all  life  for 
God.  Many  of  those  who  profess  and  call  them- 
selves Christian  disciples  have  never  yet  entered 
into  this  primary  truth  of  the  gospel.  They  think 
and  live  as  if  great  provinces  of  life  lay  outside  the 
boundaries  of  God's  kingdom.  They  regret  with  a 
deep  and  sincere  regret  that  so  much  of  life  should 
be  taken  up  with  what  they  call  the  secular  affairs 
of  life.  Men  and  women,  hard-working,  faithful, 
busy  people  look  upon  their  daily  tasks  as  a  kind 
of  desert  region  in  which  the  fair  fruits  of  the 
Christian  life  cannot  be  expected  to  thrive.  They 
look  upon  that  real  world  in  which  nearly  all  their 
time  is  spent,  as  an  evil  world,  a  world  given  over 
to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  but  a  world 
in  which  they  must  toil  and  live.     No  mistake 


THE  TRANSFIGURED  TASK.  183 

could  be  more  tragic,  more  contrary  to  tlie  spirit 
of  Christianity  than  this.  Whatever  we  do,  in  word 
or  in  deed,  we  are  to  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Spirituality  is  not  a  zone  of  life,  but  a  tone 
of  thought.  One  man  may  be  wholly  unspiritual 
in  the  church,  and  another  may  be  wholly  spiritual 
in  the  mill.  The  fact  is,  however,  everything  in 
life  is  essentially  spiritual.  The  relations  of  parent, 
child,  husband,  wife,  brother,  sister,  friend,  neigh- 
bor, associate,  are  throughout  ^^  every  living  tie 
and  thrilling  nerve  that  binds  them  together  "  es- 
sentially spiritual  relations.  The  simplest  rela- 
tions of  life  and  the  most  commonplace  acts  have 
a  sj)iritual  significance.  Here,  in  this  earthly 
scene,  here,  amid  the  throng  and  press  of  daily 
cares,  here,  in  these  shops,  and  streets,  and  homes, 
the  Christian  Citizen  must  live  and  serve  ;  here, 
fidelity  is  tested,  character  is  made,  spirituality  is 
shown. 

Let  me  put  this  truth  in  a  different  way.  You 
are  a  business  man  :  your  calling  in  life  is  to  infuse 
the  Christian  spirit  into  the  commercial  world, 
and  to  place  the  crown  of  the  business  world  upon 
the  head  of  Jesus  Christ.  You  are  a  mechanic  : 
your  calling  in  life  is  to  work  with  God  in  the 
creation  of  order  and  beauty,  and  to  imitate  the 
Carpenter  of  Nazareth  in  glorifying  God  in  daily 
toil.  You  are  a  farmer  :  your  calHng  is  to  see  God  in 
the  processes  of  nature  and  to  be  a  link  in  the  chain 
of  divine  providence  in  feeding  hungry  men.  You 
are  a  housewife  :  your  calling  is  to  spiritualize  the 


184  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

relations  of  the  home  and  make  the  family  life 
below  the  shadow  of  the  family  above.  You  are 
a  director  in  a  great  corporation  :  your  calling  in 
life  is  to  honor  Jesus  Christ  in  the  affairs  of  that 
company,  in  its  issuing  of  stock  and  its  payment  of 
employes,  and  to  show  that  love,  not  selfishness,  is 
the  glory  of  trade.  You  are  a  lawyer  :  your  calling 
in  life  is  to  interpret  the  righteousness  of  God  writ- 
ten upon  the  Adamant  Tables,  and  to  show  that 
all  human  relations  are  rooted  in  justice.  Moham- 
med has  said  in  striking  phrase  :  ''  One  hour  spent 
in  the  execution  of  justice  is  worth  seventy  years 
of  prayer.^'  To  be  a  Christian  and  to  serve  one's 
day  and  generation  one  does  not  need  to  change 
his  calling  or  work  in  life,  unless  that  business  is 
clearly  wrong.  Often  the  best  thing  is  to  remain 
right  in  the  calling  wherein  he  is  called  and  to 
ennoble  and  spiritualize  it.  Men,  most  men  want 
to  be  useful :  they  want  to  serve  their  fellows  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  Grod.  The  world  needs 
Christian  preachers  and  missionaries  :  but  often 
the  most  effectual  preacher  in  a  community  is  the 
merchant  who  spiritualizes  trade  and  makes  his 
counter  an  altar  of  service.  It  is  a  fine  and  Christ- 
ly  thing  to  crucify  self  and  become  a  missionary  to 
lost  men  in  some  other  land.  But  it  is  equally  as 
fine  and  Christly  a  thing  to  disown  self  in  the  store 
and  to  honor  the  law  of  the  cross  over  one's  counter. 
Perhaps  the  best  way  in  which  the  average  disciple 
can  most  effectually  honor  Christ  is  remaining  in 
the  calling  wherein  grace  found  him,  and  seeking 


THE  TRANSFIGURED  TASK.  185 

to  infuse  the  Cliristian  spirit  into  every  relation 
and  into  every  transaction.     That  is  a  suggestive 
page  in  one  of  Euskin's  letters,  wherein  he  speaks 
of  a  visit  to  the  home  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi. 
''  It  is  not  at  all  clear  to  me  how  far  the  Beggar 
and  Pauper  Saint,  whose  marriage  with  the  Lady 
Poverty,  I  have  come  here  to  paint  from  Giotto's 
dream  of  it,—  how  far,  I  say,  the  mighty  work  he 
did  in  the  world  was  owing  to  his  vow  of  poverty, 
or  diminished  by  it.     If  he  had  been  content  to 
preach  love  alone,  whether  among  poor  or  rich, 
and  if  he  had  understood  that  love  for  all  God's 
creatures  was  one  and  the  same  blessing  :  and  that 
if  he  was  right  to  take  the  doves  out  of  the  fowler's 
hand,  that  they  might  build  their  nests,  he  was 
himself  wrong  when  he  went  out  in  the  winter's 
night  on  the  hills,  and  made  for  himself  dolls  of 
snow,    and    said,    'Francis,  these— behold— these 
are  thy  wife  and  thy  children.'     If  instead  of  quit- 
ting his  father's  trade,  that  he  might  nurse  lepers, 
he  had  made  his  father's  trade  holy  and  pure,  and 
honorable  more  than  beggary  :  perhaps  at  this  day 
the  Black  Friars  might  yet  have  an  unruined  house 
by  Thames  shore,  and  the  children  of  his  native 
village  not  be  standing  in  the  porches  of  the  temple 
built  over  his  tomb  to  ask   alms  of   the  infidel " 
(Fors  Clavigera,  Letter  XLI.). 

The  Christian  is  here  not  to  despise  the  world 
nor  to  destroy  the  world,  but  to  hallow  and  trans- 
figure the  world.  This  is  God's  world,  and  it  is 
the  privilege  of  the  Christian  disciple  to  see  God 


186  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

in  everything  and  to  put  the  stamp  of  God  upon 
everything.  The  religion  that  makes  one  hold 
lightly  the  relations  of  life  is  not  Christ's  kind  of 
religion.  The  religion  that  does  not  sweeten  the 
home,  sanctify  the  store,  transform  the  mill,  purify 
politics,  is  not  Christ's  kind  of  religion.  The 
Christian  Citizen  has  a  divine  calling  to  spiritual- 
ize the  secular  and  to  Christianize  the  common. 
When  this  principle  dominates  the  life,  all  work 
becomes  one  round  of  holy  service.  Then  one  need 
not  lay  down  the  broom  or  close  the  ledger  and 
enter  the  closet  to  find  holy  ground.  "When  Christ 
has  full  sway  in  the  life,  every  place  becomes  a 
place  of  prayer,  every  task  an  altar  of  service, 
every  spot  an  open  gate  of  heaven,  every  duty  a 
spiritual  exercise,  every  street  a  street  of  the  New 
Jerusalem. 

Teach  me,  my  God  and  King, 

In  all  things  thee  to  see  ; 
And  what  I  do  in  anything, 

To  do  it  as  for  thee. 

All  may  of  thee  partake  ; 

Nothing  so  small  can  be, 
But  draws  when  acted  for  thy  sake, 

Greatness  and  worth  from  thee. 

If  done  beneath  thy  laws, 

Even  servile  labors  shine  ; 
Hallowed  is  toil,  if  this  the  cause  ; 

The  meanest  work  Divine. 


THE  TRANSFIGUBED  TASK,  181 

A  servant  with  this  clause 

Makes  drudgery  divine ; 
Who  sweeps  a  room,  as  for  thy  laws 

Makes  that  and  the  action  fine. — 

George  Herbert. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THEOUGH    VANITY    FAIK. 

They  that  use  this  world,  as  not  abusing  it.— The  Apostle  Paul. 

Our  fathers  delivered  the  holy  land  from  the  infidel.  There  is 
another  holy  land  which  brigands,  thieves,  the  profane,  pollute 
every  day.  It  is  the  land  of  laughter  and  of  pleasure.  They  have 
so  thoroughly  ravaged  and  disfigured  it  that  it  is  not  recognizable. 
But  by  the  God  of  the  springtime  and  of  the  stars,  by  the  loving 
kindness  which  gives  the  fresh  laugh  to  the  lips  of  childhood  and 
the  sweet  intoxication  to  the  heart  of  youth,  this  holy  land  of  ours 
shaU  not  remain  in  the  hands  of  infidels.  It  is  ours  and  we  shall  re- 
gain it.— Charles  Wagner  :  Youth. 

The  toppling  crags  of  duty  scaled. 

Lie  close  upon  the  shining  table  lands 

To  which  our  God  himself  is  sun  and  moon. 

—Anon. 

In"  Bunyan's  immortal  allegory  we  are  told  how, 
as  Pilgrim  proceeds  on  his  journey,  he  is  met  by 
his  good  friend  Evangelist,  who  warns  him  against 
over-confidence.  "  Then  I  saw  in  my  dream  that 
when  they  were  gone  out  of  the  wilderness,  they 
presently  saw  a  town  before  them,  and  the  name 
of  that  town  is  Vanity  :  and  at  the  town  there  is  a 
fair  kept,  called  Vanity  Fair.  It  is  kept  all  the 
year  long.  It  beareth  the  name  of  Vanity  Fair, 
because  the  town  where  it  is  kept  is  lighter  than 
vanity  ;  and  also  because  all  that  is  there  sold  or 
(188) 


THROUGH  VANITY  FAIR.  189 

that  Cometh  thither  is  vanity/'  Here  the  Chris- 
tian Pilgrims  are  hardly  treated,  and  Faithful  is 
killed.  But  he  who  ruleth  all  things,  with  the 
temptation  made  a  way  of  escape  for  Christian,  so 
that  he  is  delivered  from  the  snares  of  the  city  and 
goes  on  his  way  singing. 

Vanity  Fair  is  a  perennial  and  permanent  insti- 
tution in  every  community  on  earth.  As  the  New 
Citizen  passes  to  and  fro,  from  his  work  to  his 
home,  and  from  his  home  to  the  church,  he  passes 
through  the  streets  of  this  fair.  .  As  he  goes  from 
the  Prayer  Room  to  the  Palace  Beautiful  he  sees 
the  placards  and  announcements  of  this  seductive 
fair.  In  the  place  of  toil  and  in  the  social  gather- 
ing he  meets  the  agents  of  this  wonderful  fair,  who 
ever  seek  to  interest  him  in  its  allurements.  "  As 
I  said,  the  way  to  the  Celestial  City  lies  just  through 
this  town  where  this  lusty  fair  is  ke]3t ;  and  he  that 
would  go  to  the  City,  and  yet  not  go  through  this 
town,  must  needs  go  out  of  the  world."  That  fair 
represents  the  pleasures,  the  attractions,  the  allure- 
ments, the  temptations  of  this  world.  Bunyan  is 
right,  beyond  question  ;  he  who  would  go  to  the 
City  and  not  go  through  this  town  must  needs  go 
out  of  the  world.  Even  the  Prince  of  princes 
himself  Avent  through  this  town  on  his  way  to  his 
own  country,  and  that  on  a  fair  day.  Dropping 
the  allegory  we  now  ask  :  How  shall  the  Christian 
disciple  who  would  be  true,  conduct  himself  amid 
the  allurements,  the  distractions,  the  pleasures, 
the  seductions  of  this    world  ?    Shall  he   despise 


190  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

the  world  and  all  its  honors  and  attractions  ? 
Shall  he  love  these  things  and  give  himself  np  to 
the  enticements  of  the  fair  ?  Is  there  a  possible 
third  course,  which  consists  neither  in  despising 
the  world  nor  in  loving  the  world,  but  in  using 
the  world  as  not  abusing  it  ?  One  cannot  pass 
through  the  world  without  passing  through  Vanity 
Fair  ;  can  one  pass  through  this  fair  without  be- 
ing seduced  from  his  integrity  and  spoiled  in  his 
devotedness  ? 

I.  The  Christian  Citizen"  may  Enjoy  Life 
WHILE  Passing  Through  the  World. 

Though  the  disciple  must  preserve  his  integrity 
while  passing  through  Vanity  Fair,  he  need  not 
deny  himself  all  pleasure  and  enjoyment  in  life. 
On  no  question  is  information  more  needed  than 
this  of  the  right  attitude  of  the  Christian  toward 
the  pleasures  and  recreations  of  the  world. 
'^  There  are  three  classes  of  individuals/^  saj^s 
Charles  Wagner  in  Youth,  ^' who  disapprove  of 
pleasure.  There  are,  doubtless,  more  than  three, 
but  to  enumerate  them  all  would  be  to  do  them 
too  much  honor.  It  would  be  as  dreary  as  a  suc- 
cession of  rainy  days.  Three  will  suffice, — utili- 
tarians, ascetics,  and  pessimists. '''  The  first,  as  he 
shows,  proscribe  pleasure  because  it  is  useless,  and 
makes  us  lose  time  without  any  equivalent.  The 
second  condemn  pleasure  because  it  is  dangerous 
in  their  eyes  and  jeopardizes  the  sonl^s  salvation. 
And  the  third  class,  the  pessimists,  deny  pleasure 


THROUGH  VANITY  FAIR.  191 

because  it  deranges  their  system,  and  does  not 
frame  in  with  their  little  theory  of  the  world  and 
of  life.  No  one  of  these  views  is  fully  satisfactory, 
because  none  is  fully  Christian. 

Long  ago  Aristotle  laid  down  the  maxim  that 
'^  All  extremes  are  wrong. ^'  What  may  be  called 
the  ascetic  view  of  life  has  more  or  less  prevailed 
in  all  ages.  Men,  earnest  men,  have  seen  the  fol- 
lies of  the  world  and  have  felt  the  attractions  of 
society.  In  their  recoil  from  these  things  they 
have  gone  to  the  length  of  denying  the  validity  of 
all  pleasure  ;  they  have  preached  forever  and  for- 
ever the  duty  of  utter  abstinence,  of  total  isolation 
from  the  world  and  its  attractions.  It  may  be 
granted  that  asceticism  and  puritanism  have  had 
an  important  part  to  play  in  the  drama  of  the 
workVs  development  ;  they  were  protests  against 
that  view  of  life  which  made  it  consist  in  one  round 
of  fun  and  frolic.  In  the  name  of  religion,  men 
have  been  cruel  to  themselves,  and  have  denied 
themselves  all  earthly  joy  and  recreation.  Vice 
and  pleasure  have  been  placed  in  the  same  cate- 
gory. We  have  heard  much  of  the  strictness  of 
the  Puritans,  and  no  doubt  they  were  some- 
what ascetic  and  gloomy  in  their  views  of  life.  In 
their  protest  against  the  follies  and  vices  of  the 
time  of  the  Stuarts  they  went  to  extremes. 
There  is  some  justification  for  the  remark  of 
Macaulay,  that  the  Puritans  objected  to  bear  bait- 
ing, not  because  it  gave  pain  to  the  bear,  but  be- 
cause it  gave  pleasure  to  the  spectators.     They 


192  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

denounced  all  public  and  private  amusements  as 
sinful  and  demoralizing.  Some  of  them  considered 
it  a  sin  to  laugh  on  Sunday,  a  sacrifice  of  one^s  in- 
tegrity ever  to  be  pleased  and  happy.  They  ques- 
tioned the  saintliness  of  a  man  with  plenty  of  color 
in  his  face,  with  a  happy,  ringing  voice,  with  a 
healthy  appetite  and  a  good  digestion  ;  the  man 
who  had  a  cheerful  disposition  and  a  buoyant 
spirit  they  suspected  of  being  wanting  in  some  of 
the  more  serious  and  necessary  graces  of  the  Chris- 
tian life.  Even  such  a  sane  and  saintly  man  as 
good  Archbishop  Leighton  said  :  ''  Pleasures  are 
like  mushrooms — it  is  so  difficult  to  distinguish 
those  that  are  wholesome  from  those  that  are  poi- 
sonous, that  it  is  better  to  abstain  from  them  alto- 
gether." 

Christianity  is  not  a  fast  but  a  feast.  A  char- 
acteristic Gospel  word  is  '^  joy."  Jesus  Christ 
lived  a  joyous  and  happy  life,  eating  and  drinking 
and  making  himself  at  home  amid  the  common 
joys  of  men.  He  was  indeed  the  Man  of  Sorrows, 
one  acquainted  with  grief ;  but  he  was  also  the 
Friend  and  Companion  of  man  in  all  his  joys  and 
j)leasures.  An  old  tradition  says  that  he  was 
never  seen  to  smile.  One  cannot  reconcile  this 
tradition  with  the  fact  that  little  children  were 
drawn  to  him  as  by  some  mighty  magnetism.  A 
smile  and  not  a  frown  wins  the  little  child. 

John  the  Baptist  was  an  ascetic,  living  a  hard 
and  strict  life  in  the  wilderness,  standing  aloof 
from  the  common  joys  of  men.     No  one  would 


THROUGH  VANITY  FAIR,  193 

ever  have  thought  of  inviting  him  to  share  the  joys 
of  a  marriage  occasion  ;  as  he  would  never  have 
thought,  for  one  moment,  of  accepting  such  an 
invitation,  had  it  been  given.  But  no  doubt  it 
seemed  the  most  natural  and  becoming  thing  in 
the  world  to  invite  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  And  he 
honored  the  occasion  by  his  presence  and  wrought 
his  first  miracle  to  minister  to  the  joys  of  the  hour. 
He  came  eating  and  drinking  ;  he  lived  the  com- 
mon life  of  men  ;  there  was  outwardly  nothing 
remarkable  in  his  life  or  dress  or  conduct ;  there 
were  no  outward  and  visible  marks  of  eminent  re- 
ligiousness. We  know  how  the  Pharisees  and  the 
disciples  of  John  were  surprised  and  hurt  by  this  ; 
they  did  not  see  how  one  could  be  religious  with- 
out being  ascetic  and  self-denying  in  such  things 
as  dress  and  worship,  eating  and  drinking.  ^'  Wis- 
dom is  justified  of  her  children,"*'  he  said  to  all 
cavillers.  ''  I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life 
and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly.-'^ 
Abundant  life  shows  itself  not  in  abundant  dream- 
ing, nor  in  abundant  renouncing,  but  in  abundant 
living  and  enjoying. 

Pleasure  and  recreation  are  a  necessity  of  life. 
That  is  an  interesting  tradition  of  John  the  be- 
loved disciple,  how  one  day,  while' amusing  himself 
with  a  tame  partridge,  a  huntsman  expressed  won- 
der that  he  could  spend  time  in  so  unprofitable  a 
manner.  The  apostle  inquired  :  ^^Why  dost  thou 
not  carry  thy  bow  always  bent  ?  "  "  Because  if  it 
were  always  bent  I  fear  it  would  lose  its  spring,  and 


194  ^^^  iV^TF  CITIZENSHIP. 

become  useless/'  '^Be  not  surprised,  therefore/' 
replied  the  saintly  disciple,  '^'^that  I  should  some- 
times remit  a  little  of  my  close  attention  of  spirit 
to  enjoy  a  little  recreation,  that  I  may  afterwards 
employ  myself  more  fervently  in  divine  contem- 
plation/' Men  are  so  constituted  that  periods  of 
work  must  interblend  with  periods  of  rest  and 
recreation.  ''  All  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a 
dull  boy."  "  There  is  a  time  to  w^eep/'  says  the 
wise  man,  "and  a  time  to  laugh."  There  is  a 
laughter  that  is  like  the  crackling  of  thorns  under 
a  pot ;  but  there  is  a  laughter  which  is  the  joyous 
overflow  of  a  full  soul.  Oarl3de  with  his  keen 
insight  has  said  :  "  Beware  of  the  man  who  cannot 
laugh."  ''  The  man  who  cannot  laugh  is  not  only 
fit  for  treasons,  stratagems,  and  spoils,  but  his 
whole  life  is  already  a  treason  and  a  stratagem." 
"  I  love  honest  laughter  as  I  do  sunlight."  Per- 
haps one  of  the  most  important  elements  of  Luther's 
work  is  his  influence  upon  the  daily  life  of  men. 
He  preached  a  gospel  of  joyousness  and  peace. 
As  Dale  has  said  :  ''*'  He  had  a  boundless  faith  and 
a  boundless  joy  in  God.  His  joy  was  of  a  mascu- 
line kind,  and  made  him  stronger  for  his  work." 
He  was  a  hearty  eater  and  enjoyed  seeing  his 
friends  at  dinner  eating  and  enjoying  themselves. 
He  married  a  wife  and  loved  her,  and  loved  God 
all  the  more  for  it.  He  was  exceedingly  fond  of 
music  and  songs,  and  he  could  laugh  as  well  as 
preach. 

The  discussion  of  this  whole  question  of  amuse- 


THROUGH  VANITY  FAIR.  195 

ment  needs  to  be  treated  in  a  high  and  Christian 
spirit.     Too  often  the  whole  discussion  turns  on 
the  propriety  or  the  danger  of  certain  forms  of 
pleasure,    as     theater-going,     card-playing,    and 
dancing.     To  reject  is  easier  than  to  discriminate  ; 
to  lay  down  rules  is  simpler  than  to  set  forth  prin- 
ciples.    To  lay  down  rules  may  be  easy,  but  it  is 
neither  wise  nor  Christian.     The  Christian  gospel 
is  not  a  system  of  rules  and  restrictions,  but  a 
high  inspiration,  a  principle  of  life.     To  frame 
the  life  by  principles  and  inspirations  is  at  once 
to  develop  character  and  to  honor  the  Christian 
spirit.     One  of  the   most   painful   sights   in  the 
world  is  to  see  a  young  man  debating  anxiously 
whether  he  may  engage  in  this  amusement  or  that 
recreation.     He  whose  religion  is  a  matter  of  rules 
and  restrictions  so  debates  ;  he  who  lives  by  prin- 
ciples and  inspirations  cultivates  an  insight  which 
becomes  quick  to  discern  between  the  right  and 
the  wrong.     Character  consists   in  the    develop- 
ment of  insight.     Austin  Phelps  says  that  ''  the 
most  senseless  advice  he  ever  heard  was  that  given 
by  a  Christian  father  to  his  son  :  ^a  do  not  say 
pro  or  con  about  card-playing  ;  but  it  must  not  be 
practiced  in  my  house.''     It  is  not  surprising,  says 
Phelps,  that  the  boy  went  to  sea.     The  real  educa- 
tion of  life  comes  not  through  keeping  rules  but 
through  applying  principles. 

A  few  principles  for  the  guidance  of  life  may  be 
given.  I  pass  by  all  such  considerations  as  the 
rightfulness  or  wrongfulness  of  some  of  the  com- 


196  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

mon  forms  of  amusement  of  onr  time.  I  lay  down 
no  general  and  sweeping  prohibitions  ;  1  pass  by- 
all  questions  of  casuistry  and  debate.  A  few  gen- 
eral principles,  negatively  and  positively,  are  here 
given. 

I.  Negatively. 

1.  All  forms  of  amusement  are  to  be  avoided 
which  tend  to  undermine  or  endanger  one^s  physical 
health.  Any  forms  of  recreation  which  rob  one 
of  sleep  cannot  well  be  justified  on  any  grounds. 
So  also  those  forms  of  recreation  which  exhaust 
one^s  physical  energy  unduly,  and  unfit  one  for  the 
stern  and  real  work  of  life,  are  questionable.  Rec- 
reation, to  be  real  and  helpful,  ought  to  send  one 
back  to  his  work  with  glowing  cheeks  and  bound- 
ing pulse. 

2.  Those  forms  of  amusement  are  to  be  avoided 
whose  associations  are  questionable.  Many  forms 
of  popular  amusement  are  conducted  in  question- 
able places,  by  questionable  methods,  by  question- 
able persons,  and  for  questionable  ends.  No  one 
who  has  a  fine  and  high  regard  for  his  personal 
integrity  can  consent  to  be  a  party  to  questionable 
ways  and  deeds.  Just  so  far  as  our  presence  at 
such  places  recognizes  and  encourages  these  ques- 
tionable practices  we  had  better  abstain.  Better 
that  we  pluck  out  the  right  eye  or  cut  off  the  right 
hand,  than  by  our  presence  to  become  a  stumbling- 
block  to  some  weaker  brother. 

6.  Those  forms  of  amusement  are  to  be  shunned 


THROUGH  VANITY  FAIR.  197 

which  arouse  and  stimulate  a  morbid  desire  and 
appetite.     One   cannot   too   carefully   watch    the 
springs  of  life  ;  out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of 
life.     You  have  seen  the  storm  cloud  gather  on  a 
summer's  day.     As  you  look  up  at  the  blue  and 
cloudless  sky,  you  see  a  thin  film  and  vapor  gather 
and  float  lazily  across  the  heavens.     Now  a  breath 
of  wind  catches  it,  and  it  seems  about  to  dissolve 
and  disappear.     In  a  minute  you  look  again,  and 
now  the  haze  has  become  a  cloud.     While   you 
look  it  grows  and  thickens  and  spreads  over  the 
face  of  the  whole  sky.     Before  long  the  heavens 
are  black  ;  now  the  lightnings  flash  and  the  thun- 
ders roll.     Look  within  the  heart,  and  every  one 
will  see  the  same  process  there.     The  book  may  be 
fascinating,  but  if  it  suggests   evil  imaginations, 
it  cannot  be  too  rigidly  avoided.     The  place   of 
amusement  may  be  brilliant  and  attractive,  but  if 
it  paints  evil  pictures  upon  the  w^alls  of  the  soul, 
it  cannot  be  too  carefully  shunned. 

4.  Those  forms  of  amusement  are  to  be  avoided 
which  tend  to  become  stumbling-blocks  in  the 
way  of  others.  It  is  possible  that  one  may  himself 
indulge  in  these  things  without  harm.  But ''  none 
of  us  lives  to  himself,  and  none  dies  to  himself.'' 
Every  man  is  responsible  for  his  influence.  The 
apostle  has  laid  down  the  principle  which  should 
guide  men  always  and  everywhere  :  "  It  is  good 
neither  to  eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  any- 
thing whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth,  or  is  of- 
fended, or  is  made  weak"  (Romans  xiv.  21). 


198  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP.  ^ 

II.  Positively. 

1.  All  forms  of  amusement  to  be  Christian  must 
be  means  to  an  end.  So  far  as  recreation  is  made 
an  end  in  itself  it  soon  palls  on  the  taste,  and 
leaves  a  bitter  taste  in  the  mouth.  Well  has  the 
apostle  written  :  "  She  that  liveth  in  pleasure  is 
dead  while  she  liveth.''  A  soul  sodden  with  pleas- 
ure is  already  a  lost  soul. 

2.  Those  forms  of  amusement  are  to  be  preferred 
which  minister  to  the  higher  parts  of  man's  nature 
^^  De  gustibus  non  est  disputandum."  What  is 
one  person's  delight  is  another's  abomination.  Iso 
strict,  hard  and  fast  rule  can  be  laid  down  as  to 
what  is  higher  and  lower.  But  it  may  be  said  that 
the  mind  is  higher  than  the  body,  and  the  spirit- 
ual appetencies  are  higher  than  bodily  sensations. 
Grecian  mythology  tells  of  Gryllus,  a  companion  of 
Ulysses,  who  was  first  feasted  by  Circe  and  then 
transformed  into  a  hog.  Ulysses  obtained  a  charm 
by  which  he  was  enabled  to  restore  all  these  swine 
back  to  men  again.  But  one  man,  Gryllus,  re- 
fused to  resume  his  former  shape.  Fenelon  has 
produced  a  profound  and  witty  dialogue  between 
Ulysses  and  Gryllus.  Ulysses  :  "li  you  had  any 
feeling  at  all,  you  would  be  only  too  happy  to 
become  a  man  again."  Gryllus:  "1  don't  care 
for  that.     The  life  of  a  hog  is  much  pleasanter." 

Ulysses :  "  Are  you  not  shocked  at  your  baseness  ? 
You  live  only  on  filth."  Gryllus:  *' What  does  it 
matter  ?  Everything  depends  upon  one's   taste." 

Ulysses  :  "1^  it  possible  that  you  have  so  soon  for- 


THROUGH  VANITY  FAIR.  199 

gotten  every  noble  and  advantageous  gift  of  human- 
ity ^  "  Grijllus :  ''  Do  not  talk  to  me  of  human- 
ity ;  its  nobility  is  only  imaginary."  Ulysses: 
''  But  you  count  then  as  nothing,  eloquence,  poetry, 
music,  science,  etc?"  Grylhis  :  -My  tempera- 
ment as  a  hog  is  so  happy  that  it  raises  me  above 
all  those  fine  things.  I  like  better  to  grunt  than 
to  be  eloquent  in  your  way.^'  So  long  as  a  man 
lives  only  in  the  basement  of  his  brain  he  will  be 
content  with  base  pleasures.  The  man  who  has  a 
high  and  worthy  appreciation  of  the  grandeur  and 
dignity  of  human  life  will  prefer  those  pleasures 
which  minister  to  his  higher  nature. 

3.  Those  forms  of  diversion  are  to  be  commended 
which  increase  the  joyousness  of  life  and  add  no 
sorrow.  Men  cannot  too  carefully  avoid  those 
forms  of  pleasure  which  give  -a  moment's  joy  to 
wail  a  week."  Men,  it  has  been  said,  cannot  too 
rigidly  shun  those  deeds  by  day  which  destroy  their 
peace  «f  soul  by  night.  Tliis  is  what  Paul  means 
when  he  says :  ^  Happy  is  he  that  judgeth  not 
himself  in  that  which  he  approveth.  But  he  that 
doubteth  is  condemned  if  he  eat,  because  he  eateth 
not  of   faith  ;  and  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is 


sin." 


Happv  is  that  man  whose  eye  is  single  and  whose 
insight  is  clear  ;  happy  is  he  who  does  and  allows 
only  those  things  which  his  insight  approves. 

4.  Those  forms  of  diversion  are  to  be  encour- 
aged which  awaken  in  man  a  true  appreciation  of 
the  beauties  of  the  world  and  the  handiwork  of 


200  THU  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

God.  Nature,  the  wonderful  and  many-leaved 
book  of  God,  is  ever  new  and  ever  beautiful.  Why- 
will  men  be  content  to  shut  themselves  up  in  nar- 
row, close  rooms  over  cards  and  games  when  the 
wonderful  book  of  nature  invites  them  to  come 
and  read  !  There  are  certain  pleasures  which  ele- 
vate and  ennoble  the  soul — music,  art,  poetry, 
natural  science. 

•^'Religion  never  was  designed  to  make  our 
pleasures  less."  The  story  is  told  of  Carlo  Borro- 
meo,  a  saintly  man,  that  one  day,  while  engaged 
with  some  friends  at  a  game  of  chess,  the  question 
was  started  what  they  would  do  if  it  were  known 
that  they  were  to  die  within  the  hour.  ''  I  would 
go  on  with  my  game,"  said  Borromeo,  who  had  be- 
gun the  game  for  God's  glory  in  order  to  fit  him- 
self for  God's  work.  Religion  will  give  one  some 
clear  and  sufficient  principles  by  which  to  test 
pleasures ;  it  will  give  one  a  spirit  that  will  lead 
him  into  the  enjoyment  of  true  and  helplhl  and 
elevating  pleasures.  No  one  who  has  a  regard  for 
his  higher  life  can  refuse  to  try  the  spirits  of  pleas- 
ure that  he  may  know  whether  they  be  of  God  or 
not.  The  man  who  brings  every  pleasure  to  the 
test  of  his  insight  and  the  principles  of  the  gospel 
cannot  fail  to  know  with  a  certainty  that  cannot 
be  gainsaid  what  forms  of  diversion  are  lawful 
and  expedient  for  him. 


TBBOUGH  VANITY  FAIR. 


201 


II   The  Ohbistiai^  Citizest  must  Pkesekve 

HIS  INTEGRITY  ^"HILE  PASSING  THEOUGH  VAXITY 

^The  sphere  of  manifestation  of  the  Christian 
spirit  is  the  common  round  of  daily  life.     Whether 
we  like  it  or  not,  we  are  in  the  world  and  cannot 
escape  from  the  world.     The  divine  Master  ha^s 
set  his  people  right  in  the  streets  and  fields  and 
homes  of  earth,  and  has  hidden  them  stay  there 
and  serve  there  till  he  calls  them  away  to  another 
world  and  a  different  order.     On  the  other  hand, 
the  Christian  is    bidden  to  come   out  from  the 
world  and  to  be  separate.     This  separation  is,  how- 
ever, one  of  spirit  and  not  of  locality.     "I  pray 
not  that  thou  shouldest  take  them  out  of  the 
world,  but  that  thou  shouldest  keep  them  from 
the  evil  "    No  one  knew  better  than  the  Lord 
Jesus  the  power  of  temptation  and  the  subtlety  of 
the  tempter's  snare.     He  knew  the   charms  of 
Ephesns,  the  fascinations  of  Athens,  the  m  oxi- 
cations   of  Rome,  the  hindrances  of  Jerusalem 
Never  was  it  harder  to  keep  clean  and  true  and 
earnest  and  faithful  than  in  these  wondrously  in- 
toxicating cities.     But  Jesus  Christ  expected  men 
and  women  to  live  brave  true  lives  right  m  the 
midst   of   all   these  temptations  and  seductions. 
The  disciples  in  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  m  Coimth 
and  Ephesus,  in  Smyrna  and  Rome  had  no  call 
to  leave  these  cities  for  the  solitary  cell  or  the 
desert  home.     The  tried  and  tempted  disciples  in 
Sardis  and  Smyrna  must  win  the  white  robe  and 


202  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

the  crown  of  life  ia  these  cities  and  not  in  the 
hermit's  cell.  "  Christ  evidently  believed  that  a 
man  could  be  a  Christian  anywhere."  The  Chris- 
tian must  learn  the  art  of  being  faithful  every- 
where. The  Christian  must  learn  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian anywhere  and  everywhere^,  at  all  times  and 
under  all  circumstances. 

Nothing  occasions  an  observer  of  human  life 
more  surprise  and  sorrow  than  the  diiferent  ways 
that  some  persons  act  in  different  surroundings. 
Many  people  allow  themselves  to  be  moulded  and 
shaped  by  the  influences  at  work  around  them. 
They  are  little  else  than  the  expression  and  reflec- 
tion of  their  surroundings.  They  take  the  course 
of  life  that  has  the  most  supporters,  or  that  offers 
the  least  resistance.  A  suggestive  writer,  in  a 
little  book  on  '^  Possibilities/'  says  that  nothing 
so  surj^rised  and  dismayed  his  heart  as  the  laxity 
of  principle  which  he  so  often  saw  in  persons  as 
they  passed  from  one  set  of  surroundings  to  an- 
other. The  man  who  was  pure  and  good  in 
America  was  not  necessarily  pure  and  good  in 
France  or  in  Turkey.  A  woman  whose  religious 
observances  were  most  careful  in  Massachusetts 
was  so  absorbed  in  sight-seeing  in  Germany  that 
religious  observances  had  no  place  in  her  conduct. 
It  is  matter  of  common  observation  that  persons 
who  are  regardful  of  the  proprieties  of  life  at 
home  are  lax  even  to  levity  at  the  sea-shore.  ''It 
almost  seemed  as  though  what  we  call  Christian 
principle  was  a  thing  of  clothes,  to  be  put  on  like  a 


THROUGH  VANITY  FAIR.  203 

fur  coat  when  the  weather  was  cold  and  to  betaken 
oil  like  that  fur  coat  when  the  weather  was  warm.  '^ 
Modern  science  has  had  much  to  say  about  the 
influence  of  environment  on  the  organism.  Some 
would  tell  us  that  man  is  simply  the  product  of 
surroundings  :  that  climate,  food,  natural  scenery 
parentage,  conditions  and  associates  shape  the  life 
and  determine  the  destiny  of  the  human  being. 
Beyond  question  these  things  do  influence  im- 
measurably and  irrevocably  for  weal  or  woe  the 
life  of  man.  But  Avhen  the  story  of  man's  en- 
vironment is  all  told,  his  life-story  is  but  half  told. 
Another  factor  enters  into  the  computation  which 
determines  the  final  result.  This  fatalistic, 
materialistic  mould  of  thought  is  the  foe  of  all 
high  aspiring  and  noble  striving.  It  is  sadly  true 
that  these  nnworthy  theories  find  their  justifica- 
tion in  the  lives  of  a  great  many  people.  The 
jelly  fish  has  very  little  to  do  with  the  making  of 
its  own  destiny.  It  rises  and  falls  on  the  water 
and  is  cast  upon  the  shore  at  the  caprice  of  wind 
and  wave.  But  man  is  not  a  jelly-fish,  at  least 
he  ought  not  be.  Robert  Browning  is  not  creat- 
ing an  impossible  and  improbable  character  in 
Pompilia,  who,  like  the  lily  in  a  horse  pond,  be- 
comes a  pure  and  noble  soul  in  the  most  adverse 
surroundings.     ^Yell  might  the  Pope  say  : 

"  It  was  not  given  Pompilia  to  know  much, 
Speak  much,  to  write  a  book,  to  move  mankind, 
Be  memorized  by  who  records  my  time. 
Yet  if  in  purity  and  patience,  if 


204  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

In  faith  held  fast  despite  the  plucking  fiend, 

Safe  like  the  signet  stone  with  the  new  name 

That  saints  are  knowm  by, — if  in  right  returned 

For  wrong,  most  pardon  for  worst  injury, 

If  there  be  any  virtue,  any  p)raise, — 

Then  will  this  woman-child  have  proved — who  knows  ? 

Just  the  one  prize  vouchsafed  unworthy  me. 

Seven  years  a  gardener  of  the  untoward  ground 

I  till, — this  earth,  my  sweat  and  blood  manure, 

All  the  long  day  that  barrenly  grows  dusk  : 

At  least  one  blossom  makes  me  proud  at  eve 

Born  'mid  the  briars  of  my  enclosure  !  " 

The  force  of  wind  and  tide  are  potent  forces  in 
this  world,  and  do  much  to  determine  the  direc- 
tion of  the  drift  and  flotsam.  But  they  do  not 
determine  the  direction  of  the  vessel  manned  by  a 
brave  and  resolute  captain.  He  never  thinks  of 
fastening  up  the  helm,  unshipping  the  oars,  and 
letting  his  boat  be  blown  and  carried  about  whither 
wind  and  tide  wish.  That  a  man  should  make 
shipwreck  of  faith  we  can  somewhat  appreciate  ; 
for  the  world  is  full  of  mysteries  and  there  is  no 
clear  vision.  That  a  man  should  go  down  in  the 
hour  of  temptation  we  can  readily  understand  ; 
for  we  have  all  felt  the  hot  rush  of  blood  in  our 
veins.  But  that  a  man  should  be  content  to  drift, 
that  he  should  have  no  fixed  harbor  in  view,  that 
he  should  let  chance  make  him  a  man  if  chance 
would  have  him  a  man — this  is  one  of  those  con- 
tradictions of  human  nature  which  puzzle  us. 

The  Christian  disciple  must  pass  through  Vanity 
Fair  on  his  way  to  the  new  life.     But  that  is  no  rea- 


THROUGH  VANITY  FAIR,  205 

son  why  he  should  adopt  the  ways  of  the  Fair  and 
do  as  the  world  does.  Here  is  a  man  who  is  hard, 
licentious  and  godless.  How  does  he  explain  his 
life  ?  *  ^  When  I  was  a  boy  I  had  few  attractions 
at  home,  and  so  I  was  compelled  to  seek  them 
elsewhere.  As  I  grew  up,  I  naturally  broke  away 
from  the  restraints  of  home.  When  I  went  into 
business,  I  found  myself  beset  with  all  kinds  of  evil 
influences.  I  have  made  shipwreck  of  life,  but  the 
hard,  wicked  selfish  world  has  made  me  just  what 
I  am.^^  So  men  live,  and  so  they  blame  the  world 
for  the  life  which  they  themselves  have  made. 
'^  My  companions  all  danced  and  played  cards,'' 
says  the  young  man,  ^^  and  I  could  not  well  do 
differently."  '*  Other  men  in  my  line  of  business 
follow  certain  methods,"  says  the  merchant, 
''  and  of  course  I  must  do  as  they  do."  ''  I  know 
that  society  is  more  or  less  frivolous  and  shallow 
and  worldly,"  says  the  society  leader,  '^  but  as  I 
am  in  society,  I  must  conform  more  or  less  to  the 
ways  of  society."  So  people  go  through  the  world 
blaming  the  moulds  in  which  they  voluntarily  run 
their  lives  for  the  shape  their  lives  take.  How 
gentle  we  would  be  were  we  never  provoked  ! 
How  religious  if  we  lived  in  a  different  commu- 
nity !  How  successful  had  we  but  half  a  chance  ! 
We  would  be  devoted  if  we  had  any  encourage- 
ment, and  noble  if  we  had  any  incitement.  What 
different  people  we  would  be  if  the  world  were 
different !  Thus  it  is  that  many  a  man's  life  is  a 
complaint  when  it  should  be  a  battle.     The  man 


206  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

charges  up  his  moral  backwardness  to  the  account 
of  society  when  God  charges  it  up  to  his  own  self- 
indulgent  temper.  Many  a  man  spends  far  more 
time  in  excusing  his  short-comings  than  in  reform- 
ing his  life. 

In  all  ages  men  have  raised  the  cry  :  ^^It  was 
the  world  that  ruined  us."  '^  It  was  the  city  with 
its  allurements  that  turned  me  astray."  '^It  was 
society  with  its  seductions  that  undermined  my 
consecration  !  It  was  the  school,  it  was  the  store, 
it  was  my  companions,  it  was  Vanity  Fair  that 
ruined  my  soul !  So  men  cry,  as  they  review  their 
lives  and  try  to  justify  themselves.  No,  it  was 
not  the  store,  nor  the  society,  nor  the  city,  nor 
Vanity  Fair  that  ruined  them  ;  it  was  their  own 
complaisant  temper.  Joseph  in  the  house  of 
Potiphar  was  tried  as  few  men  are  tried.  But  he 
did  not  think  of  yielding  and  then  shifting  the 
responsibility  on  some  one  else.  '^  How  can  I  do 
this  great  wickedness  and  sin  against  God  ? " 
There  was  Nehemiah  the  leader  of  the  returned 
exiles.  His  predecessors,  the  governors  appointed 
by  the  Persian  king,  had  long  been  in  the  habit 
of  making  personal  gain  out  of  the  office.  "  So  did 
not  I  because  of  the  fear  of  God."  Daniel  and  his 
three  companions  had  many  things  against  them 
in  Babylon  ;  they  were  but  boys  away  from  home, 
at  a  luxurious  and  dissolute  court,  with  every  in- 
ducement on  the  side  of  laxity  and  license.  But 
they  purposed  in  their  hearts  that  they  would  not 
defile  themselves  with  the  king's  meat  and  drink. 


TEBOUGH  VANITY  FAIE.  207 

'^  We  had  to  pass  throiigli  Vanity  Fair,  and  we 
lost  our  integrity  and  our  zeal/'  But  Jesus  Christ 
allows  nothing  for  such  excuses.  He  is  compas- 
sion itself  ;  he  has  been  tempted  in  all  points  even 
as  we  are,  and  he  knows  how  to  enter  into  our  ex- 
periences. But  he  expected  that  his  follower  could 
be  faithful  anywhere  and  everywhere.  He  knew 
how  strong  was  the  love  of  the  world  ;  he  kncAV 
how  hard  it  was  to  endure  persecution ;  he  knew 
how  trying  it  was  to  live  in  a  highly  intoxicated 
atmosphere.  Yet  he  expected  men  and  women  to 
go  into  these  cities  of  his  time  and  live  pure,  de- 
voted, heavenly  lives.  Right  through  Vanity 
Fair  he  expected  his  disciples  to  go  without  losing 
one  particle  of  their  love  and  purity  and  devoted- 
ness.  Men  and  women  by  the  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands have  been  ruined  by  these  things  ;  but  Jesus 
Christ  expected  his  followers  to  remain  unstained 
and  uncontaminated. 

The  most  dangerous,  the  most  pernicious  idea 
that  can  possess  one  is  the  idea  that  one  cannot 
be  expected  to  maintain  his  integrity  in  certain 
circumstances.  The  parent  who  gives  place  to 
that  idea  in  his  training  of  his  child  has  ruined 
his  child.  The  child  who  enters  life  with  that 
idea  in  his  mind  is  hopelessly  ruined.  Such  a  con- 
ception of  life  is  a  lie,  a  cheat,  a  delusion.  There 
is  no  reason  for  it  in  Scripture,  in  history,  in  every, 
day  life.  ^'  They  can  conquer  who  believe  they 
can." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

IK   MILL  AND   MAEKET. 

Not  slothful  in  business.— The  Apostle  Paul. 

A  man's  daily  labor  is  the  chief  element  in  determining  his  char- 
acter. It  is  by  this  he  serves,  and  by  this  he  grows.  It  is  substan- 
tially his  life,  to  be  begun  and  ended,  day  by  day,  in  the  name  of 
God.— Brooke  Foss  Westcott. 

In  the  eye  of  the  Christian  Founder  the  true  city  of  God  is  a  city 
of  spiritual  commerce.  Each  is  weak  where  his  brother  is  strong  ; 
each  is  strong  where  his  brother  is  weak.  Each  gives  to  the  other 
that  special  kind  of  riches  in  which  the  other  is  poor  ;  and  from 
the  mutual  interchange  of  strength  there  at  length  emerges  a  per- 
fect Divine  Republic,  a  city  which  hath  foundations  whose  builder 
and  maker  is  God.— George  Matheson. 

It  is  a  commonplace  of  Christian  thought  that 
the  world  was  designed  for  man.  For  him  clouds 
gather  and  rain  falls  ;  for  him  the  earth  is  clothed 
with  beauty  and  the  hills  are  stored  with  treasure  ; 
the  long  ages  of  change  and  delay  were  preparing 
a  dwelling  place  for  him.  At  the  foot  of  man  the 
world  of  nature  lays  its  crown,  and  says  :  I  am 
thine.  Man  is  at  once  the  crown  of  creation,  and 
the  final  cause  of  creation.  His  original  charter 
of  sovereignty  is  given  him  by  the  Creator  of  all. 
''And  God  said.  Behold,  I  have  given  you  every 
herb  yielding  seed,  which  is  upon  the  face  of  all 
the  earth,  and  every  tree,  in  which  is  the  fruit  of 
(208) 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET.  209 

tlie  tree   yielding  seed  "   (Gen.  i.    29).     To   the 
same  high  thought  spoke  the  Psalmist : 

Thou  madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of 
thy  hands  ; 
Thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet ; 
All  sheep  and  oxen, 
Yea,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field  ; 
The  fowl  of  the  air,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea, 
And  whatsoever  passeth  through  the  paths  of  the  sea. 

— (Psalm,  viii.  6-8.) 

But  not  for  the  sake  of  man's  life  alone  is  the 
earth  given  and  the  sovereignty  conferred.  It  is 
for  the  sake  of  his  soul  life,  in  a  word  for  the  sake 
of  moral  character.  God  values  moral  character 
beyond  all  else.  It  is  the  only  thing  that  has  real 
and  intrinsic  value.  And  things  are  so  arranged 
in  this  world  that  moral  character  may  be  made 
and  trained.  To  show  the  relation  of  trade  and 
labor  to  moral  character  is  the  purpose  of  this 
chapter. 

I.  The  Moral  Significance  of  Trade. 
Those  relations  and  interests,  which  for  con- 
venience we  group  under  the  name  of  Trade  and 
Business,  have  a  high  moral  significance.  The 
world  of  things  has  in  itself  no  moral  character  ; 
things  are  neither  good  nor  bad  ;  they  have,  how- 
ever, moral  significance  because  they  produce 
moral  and  spiritual  results  in  living  creatures. 
Trade  and  Business  have  ends  beyond  themselves. 
14 


210  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

There  is  a  final  cause  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  and 
that  is  moral  character. 

Work  is  a  part  of  man^s  normal  condition  in 
this  world.  Men  have  sometimes  spoken  as  if 
labor  was  the  penalty  of  man's  sin.  No  doubt  the 
presence  of  sin,  with  all  that  it  implies,  has  made 
man's  work  far  more  hard  and  exhausting  than  it 
otherwise  would  have  been.  But  for  man,  sinless 
or  sinful,  work  is  a  part  of  the  divine  plan.  Open 
the  book  of  Genesis  and  read  :  ^'  And  God  blessed 
them,  and  God  said  unto  them.  Be  fruitful,  and 
multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth,  and  subdue  it : 
and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and 
over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living 
thing  that  moveth  upon  the  earth"  (Gen.  i.  28). 
Man  is  charged  to  subdue  the  earth  and  to  have 
dominion  over  it,  and  this  charge  antedates  the 
beginning  of  sin.  There  is  not  the  least  shadow 
of  intimation  that  work  itself  is  a  part  of  the 
curse.  To  be  sure  after  sin  is  done,  his  work  be- 
comes more  difficult ;  now  he  must  eat  bread  in 
the  sweat  of  his  brow ;  but  work  itself  is  not  a 
curse  but  a  blessing. 

•The  duty  of  labor  is  solemnly  laid  upon  man  in 
the  moral  law  of  God.  In  the  Fourth  Command- 
ment is  the  charge  :  "  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor 
and  do  all  thy  work."  Many  people,  it  is  to  be 
suspected,  overlook  this  part  of  the  command- 
ment, and  interpret  it  as  if  it  had  to  do  through- 
out with  rest.  According  to  the  law  of  God  in 
the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New,  it  is  as  wrong 


IN  MILL  AND  MABKET.  211 

for  a  man  to  be  idle  as  for  him  to  be  dishonest,  or 
impure,  or  covetous.  Idleness  is  an  immoral 
thing  ;  an  idle  man  is  not  a  good  man.  ^^  If  any 
will  not  work,  neither  let  him  eat "  (2  Thess.  iii. 
10).  The  Lord  Jesus  protested  to  the  Jews  :  "  My 
Father  worketh  hitherto  and  I  work."  No  man 
who  has  understood  the  meaning  and  value  of  life 
desires  to  escape  work. 

From  the  past  we  have  inherited  a  false  con- 
ception of  the  duty  and  dignity  of  work.  Among 
the  peoples  of  antiquity,  with  hardly  an  exception, 
work  was  despised  and  the  laborer  was  regarded  as 
an  inferior  creature.  Egypt  is  one  of  the  oldest 
nations  of  which  we  have  authentic  record,  and 
the  condition  of  the  laborer  in  that  land  was  most 
pitiable.  The  people  generally  were  slaves,  with- 
out rights,  without  religion,  without  hope.  The 
pyramids  are  monuments  of  human  cruelty,  built, 
as  they  were,  by  the  enforced  labor  of  thousands  of 
slaves,  who  toiled  without  reward  and  died  without 
regret.  Throughout  the  East,  in  Assyria,  Persia, 
Babylonia,  and  Phoenicia,  work  was  despised 
and  was  performed  by  the  slave  class.  The 
Jews  had  a  higher  conception  of  work  than 
the  other  nations  ;  and  every  Jewish  boy  was  ex- 
pected to  learn  a  trade.  In  Greece  and  Rome, 
from  the  earliest  times,  slavery  was  known,  and 
where  slavery  prevails  work  is  lightly  regarded. 
In  Greece  the  philosophers,  with  hardly  an  excep- 
tion, despised  work  and  relegated  it  to  the  slave 
class.     Plato^s  words  are  terrible    in  their  scorn 


212  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

whenever  he  refers  to  the  mechanical  arts.  In 
the  Eepublic  he  calls  the  men  who  are  engaged  in 
such  arts  not  even  human,  and  says  that  there  is  as 
great  a  difference  between  them  and  noble  occu- 
pations, as  there  is  between  the  convict's  dis- 
honored prison  and  the  temple  of  the  gods. 
Aristotle  taught  that  the  citizens  of  every  well-reg- 
ulated state  should  be  free  from  servile  labor 
(Politics,  Bk.  II.  chap.  9).  Again  he  says  :  '^It 
follows  that  in  the  best  governed  states,  where  the 
citizens  are  really  men  of  intrinsic  and  not  rela- 
tive goodness,  none  of  them  should  be  permitted 
to  exercise  any  low  mechanical  employment  or 
traffic,  as  being  ignoble  and  destructive  to  virtue ; 
neither  should  they  who  are  destined  for  office  be 
husbandmen  ;  for  leisure  is  necessary  in  order  to 
improve  in  virtue,  and  to  perform  the  duty  which 
they  owe  the  state"  (Ibid.  Bk.  VII.  chap.  9). 
In  early  Roman  times  the  most  noted  men  were 
not  ashamed  to  handle  the  plow,  and  after  the 
glories  of  war  or  the  service  of  the  state,  they  retired 
to  their  farms  and  spent  their  days  in  toil.  But 
as  the  centuries  passed,  and  wealth  increased,  and 
conquered  nations  were  enslaved,  labor  became 
more  and  more  dishonorable.  The  Feudal  system 
has  left  us  a  bad  inheritance,  that  work  is  ignoble 
and  is  unworthy  the  dignity  of  free  men.  To-day 
the  impression  more  or  less  prevails  that  certain 
kinds  of  work  are  beneath  man's  dignity  and  are 
to  be  shunned  or  despised.  The  desire  to  escape 
manual  toil  is  deeply  ingrained  in  many  minds^ 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET.  213 

and  is  the  source  of  many  of  tlie  evils  wliicli  af- 
flict our  modern  society. 

We  all  know  that  much  of  the  work  of  this  com- 
monplace, matter-of-fact  world  is  difiScult  and 
trying.  Sancho  Panza  has  said  in  suggestive 
phrase  :  ''  Fine  words  butter  no  parsnips."  Fine 
words  will  not  make  work  less  work.  To  the  great 
majority  of  our  fellows  life  presents  itself  as  a  toil- 
some and  severe  struggle  for  existence.  Only  by 
hard  labor  can  man  wring  his  support  out  of  an 
unwilling  earth.  Think  for  a  moment  of  the  con- 
ditions under  which  the  work  of  this  world  is 
done  ;  how  so  many  of  our  fellows  toil  in  mine  and 
mill,  in  ditch  and  shop,  on  locomotive  and  street 
car,  by  dangerous  engines  and  over  poisonous 
vapors,  in  store  and  kitchen.  Much  of  this  toil 
seems  hard  and  undignified  and  degrading.  Does 
it  ?  Then  we  have  not  learned  the  meaning  of 
life  and  the  divine  significance  of  labor.  If  man's 
work  in  the  world  is  commonplace,  he  may  ennoble 
it  by  putting  a  fine  and  noble  spirit  into  it.  ''  I 
reckon  two  classes  of  idlers,'',  says  Charles  Wagner, 
''  those  who  are  lazy,  and  those  who  grumble  at 
their  tasks."  Let  no  man  be  ashamed  of  any 
honest  work  however  hard  or  commonplace  it  may 
be.  Let  him  remember  that  the  Son  of  man  was 
known  as  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth,  and  himself 
learned  and  followed  a  trade.  I  have  heard  men 
speak  of  the  humiliation  of  Christ,  as  if  toil  was  a 
part  of  it.  Once  and  forever  let  us  have  done  with 
this  false  and  petty  notion.     A  king  is  not  one  whit 


214  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

higher  in  the  scale  than  a  peasant  ;  nay,  it  may  hap- 
pen, as  it  often  has,  that  the  balance  is  entirely  on 
the  side  of  the  peasant.  The  accessories  and  acci- 
dents of  life,  such  as  dress,  occupation  and  social 
distinction  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  moral  worth 
of  a  man.  The  Son  of  man  did  the  Father^s  will 
as  truly  at  the  carpenter's  bench  as  in  the  sermon 
on  the  mount ;  he  manifested  the  Father's  glory 
just  as  fully  in  the  daily  toil  as  in  feeding  the  five 
thousand.  He  came  to  ennoble  life,  to  reveal  its 
divine  significance,  to  show  its  true  glory,  to  dis- 
close the  divineness  of  the  commonplace.  He 
chose  his  apostles  from  the  ranks  of  toilers  ;  that 
glorious  company  of  apostles  could  show  men  with 
the  hard  and  horny  hands  of  toil.  The  Koran 
tells  how  Gabriel,  the  bright  archangel  who  stands 
before  God,  was  sent  to  earth  to  do  two  things  one 
day  :  One  was  to  save  King  Solomon  from  the 
sin  of  forgetting  the  hour  of  prayer  in  pride  over 
his  royal  treasures  :  the  other  was  to  help  a  little 
yellow  ant  on  the  side  of  Ararat  which  had  grown 
tired,  in  getting  food  for  its  nest  and  was  in  dan- 
ger of  perishing  in  the  rain.  Some  one  has  sug- 
gested that  if  two  angels  were  sent  of  God  to  earth, 
one  to  preach  an  eloquent  sermon  in  a  great  con- 
gregation, and  the  other  to  sweep  a  street-crossing, 
both  would  go  with  equal  readiness  and  joy. 

After  all,  what  is  work  ?  At  bottom,  all  true 
work  is  a  co-operation  with  God  and  has  a  divine 
significance.  The  artist  takes  a  piece  of  rough 
stone  and  works  and  fashions  it  into  an  object  of 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET.  215 

beauty,  ^^  a  joy  forever/^  The  workman  making 
shoes  takes  the  shapeless  pieces  of  leather  and 
fashions  them  into  objects  of  the  greatest  utility. 
Out  of  the  formless  they  bring  forth  beauty  and 
order.  The  shop-keeper  weighing  sugar  is  a  link 
in  the  chain  of  providence  between  the  eternal 
God  and  the  hungry  child.  The  farmer  preparing 
his  ground  and  planting  his  seed  is  only  complet- 
ing a  process  whose  source  is  God.  The  farmer^s 
harvest  is  no  less  God's  harvest.  The  Father  of 
men  has  worked  hitherto  and  has  prepared  the 
means  for  man^s  effort.  It  is  God  who  upholds 
the  world  by  the  word  of  his  power ;  it  is  God 
who  sends  the  sunlight  streaming  over  hill  and 
plain  ;  it  is  God  who  gathers  the  clouds  and  sends 
the  raindrops  ;  it  is  God  who  makes  the  earth  to 
bring  forth  flowers  and  give  grain  to  the  sower 
and  bread  to  the  eater.  In  all  things^  through  all 
things,  is  God.  If  the  farmer's  work  is  common- 
place, secular  and  degrading,  God's  work  is  like- 
wise ;  if  God's  work  is  sacred,  high  and  glorious, 
man's  work  is  likewise.  If  it  is  a  secular  thing  to 
plow  a  furrow  and  swing  a  sickle,  it  is  secular  work 
to  make  a  seed  grow  and  to  create  a  stalk  of  corn. 
Suppose  we  carry  this  process  a  step  farther. 
The  wheat  is  gathered  and  threshed,  and  is  taken 
to  the  mill  to  be  ground  into  flour.  The  miller 
does  not  create  the  force  which  runs  his  mill ;  he 
only  co-operates  with  God,  and  belts  his  machinery 
on  to  the  enginery  of  God.  Thus  he  is  another 
link  in  the  chain  of  divine  providence.     But  this 


216  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

flour  is  bought  by  the  baker  and  by  him  made  up 
into  bread.  The  merchant  again  who  retails  this 
bread  becomes  another  link  in  the  great  chain,  and 
completes  the  process  of  feeding  the  hungry  and 
keeping  the  world  alive.  At  one  end  of  the  process 
is  God ;  at  the  other  end  is  man.  Will  any  one 
pretend  to  say  at  just  what  link  in  the  chain  this 
process  ceases  to  be  sacred  and  glorious  and  be- 
comes secular  and  degrading  ?  All  these  workers 
— farmers,  mechanics,  millers,  merchants — are  so 
many  agents  and  ministers  of  the  divine  bounty  ; 
from  their  hands  men  receive  those  useful  and  fin- 
ished articles  which  have  been  produced  by  the 
co-operation  of  this  great  host  of  servants  in  God's 
vineyard.  Well  may  Carlyle  say  :  ''  Two  men  I 
honor  and  no  third.  First,  the  toil-worn  crafts- 
man that  with  earth-made  implement  laboriously 
conquers  the  earth,  and  makes  her  man's.  ...  A 
second  man  I  honor,  and  still  more  highly  :  him 
who  is  seen  toiling  for  the  spiritually  indispens- 
able ;  not  only  daily  bread,  but  Bread  of  Life.  .  .  . 
Unspeakably  touching  is  it,  however,  when  we  find 
both  dignities  united  ;  and  he  that  toils  outwardly 
for  the  lowest  of  man's  wants  is  also  toiling  in- 
wardly for  the  highest.  Sublimer  in  this  world 
know  I  nothing  than  a  Peasant  Saint,  could  such 
now  anywhere  be  met  with.  Such  a  one  will  take 
thee  back  to  Nazareth  itself  ;  thou  wilt  see  the 
splendor  of  heaven  spring  forth  from  the  humblest 
depths  like  a  light  shining  in  great  darkness'' 
(Sartor  Eesartus,  Bk.  III.,  ch.  iv.). 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET.  217 

What  is  true  of  the  worker  is  no  less  true  of  the 
trader.  Trade  is  an  exchange  of  commodities  or 
services,  and  being  such  it  has  a  high  moral  sig- 
nificance. Trade  and  commerce  are  elemental 
facts  of  advancing  human  life.  In  a  simple  and 
primitive  society  the  amount  of  trade  between  man 
and  man  and  tribe  and  tribe  is  exceedingly  small. 
But  as  life  advances  in  the  scale  and  wants  mul- 
tiply, trade  becomes  necessary.  Nothing  can  be 
more  evident  than  that  the  world  is  framed  to  be  a 
place  of  trade.  The  diversity  of  aptitudes,  of  soil, 
climate,  and  productions  necessitates  trade  between 
man  and  man  and  nation  and  nation.  So  long  as 
one  man  has  skill  with  tools  and  another  skill  with 
pen  ;  so  long  as  one  district  produces  coal  and 
another  produces  wheat,  that  long  trade  will  be 
necessary.  It  could  easily  be  shown,  did  space 
permit,  that  commerce  is  one  of  the  most  potent 
forces  making  for  the  brotherhood  of  mankind 
and  the  civilization  of  the  race.  '^  Commerce,*' 
says  Orville  Dewey,  "  has  always  been  an  instru- 
ment in  the  hands  of  Providence  for  accomplishing 
nobler  ends  than  promoting  the  wealth  of  nations. 
It  has  been  the  grand  civil-izer  of  nations.  It  has 
been  the  active  principle  in  all  civilization  '^  (The 
Moral  End  of  Business).  The  commercial  nations 
have  been  the  progressive  nations.  Civilization  was 
born  in  the  trading  nations  around  the  Mediterra- 
nean Sea.  The  trader  is  the  shuttle  carrying  the 
woof  on  which  the  genius  of  history  is  weaving 
the  race  together  in  a  great  human  brotherhood. 


218  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

But  we  are  not  concerned  here  with  this  wider 
aspect  of  trade  ;  my  purpose  is  to  show  that  trade 
is  a  rendering  of  services,  and  as  such  has  a  moral 
significance.  The  trader  or  merchant  who  acts  as 
the  intermediary  between  the  different  workers  of 
society,  who  brings  the  utilities  of  one  section 
where  they  are  produced  to  another  section  where 
they  are  needed,  is  most  truly  rendering  great 
service  to  his  fellows.  In  a  complex  society  a 
division  of  labor  is  necessary  ;  and  the  merchant 
as  truly  renders  service  as  the  man  who  produces 
commodities. 

Two  things  are  made  evident  by  all  this.  First, 
a  man^s  daily  calling  is  his  priestly  service  to  God 
and  man.  One  truth  has  been  emphasized  in  these 
chapters  from  first  to  last  :  the  division  of  life  into 
the  sacred  and  the  secular  is  false,  mischievous  and 
unchristian.  A  mane's  work  in  the  world,  what- 
ever it  may  be,  provided  it  is  honest  and  proper 
work,  is  his  divine  calling.  How  often  we  have 
heard  business  men  lament  that  business  made 
such  demands  upon  their  time  and  energy  that 
little  or  no  opportunity  remained  for  the  service  of 
God.  How  common  also  it  has  been  for  men  to 
speak  of  making  some  money  and  then  retiring 
from  business  and  devoting  themselves  more  fully 
to  Christian  work.  There  is  a  most  subtle  error 
lurking  at  the  heart  of  all  such  thoughts.  Busi- 
ness rightly  done  is  a  service  of  God  in  the  wel- 
fare of  man.  The  man's  business  is  his  altar  of 
service  and  sacrifice.     Any  position  in  life,  any 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET.  219 

work  given  man,  affords  a  standing  ground  from 
which  to  reach  forth  and  serve  mankind.  A  man^s 
work,  whatever  it  is,  is  the  sphere  of  his  religion^s 
manifestation,  and  that  work  is  a  divine  calling. 
All  labor,  all  trades,  all  business,  have  ends  beyond 
themselves.  Devoutness  is  not  a  matter  of  place 
but  of  spirit.  Not  the  kind  of  work  done  is  well 
pleasing  to  God,  but  the  spirit  shining  through  it. 
The  merchant  who  makes  his  counter  an  altar  of 
sacrifice  is  most  truly  serving  his  day  and  gen- 
eration according  to  the  will  of  God.  He  pays 
his  employes  the  best  wages  possible  ;  he  takes  an 
interest  in  their  welfare ;  he  studies  the  needs  of 
society  and  brings  commodities  from  afar  to  satisfy 
those  needs ;  he  sells  the  best  goods  for  the  money 
and  thus  truly  serves  his  customers.  Every  trans- 
action in  that  store  bears  the  sign  of  the  cross. 
Wise  work,  Kuskin  tells  us,  is  work  done  with 
God :  foolish  work  is  work  against  God.  The 
Kingdom  of  God  is  wide-reaching,  all-embracing. 
There  is  not  a  spindle  turning  in  any  mill,  there 
is  not  a  locomotive  drawing  its  heavy  freight,  not 
a  plow  turning  a  furrow,  not  a  merchant  weighing 
flour,  not  a  housewife  sweeping  a  room,  that  may 
not  have  a  place  within  the  kingdom  and  work  to 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  service  of  man.  Every 
man  who,  in  an  honest  and  good  heart  is  work- 
ing for  cleaner  literature  and  better  laws,  for 
better  skill  in  trade  and  larger  service  in  com- 
merce, is  a  worker  in  the  great  Kingdom  of  God. 
When  men  see  that  they  may  work  in  behalf  of 


220  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

the  kingdom  by  the  way  they  run  their  factories, 
make  laws,  edit  newspapers,  pay  wages,  mine  coal, 
plow  fields,  a  great  change  will  come  over  the  life 
and  thought  of  the  world.  The  mechanic  may  be 
as  necessary  to  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
as  the  preacher  ;  and  the  merchant  may  yet  play  as 
important  a  place  as  the  missionary. 

And  secondly,  the  way  in  which  one  fulfills  his 
daily  tasks  at  once  makes  and  reveals  his  char- 
acter. Faithfulness,  energy,  honesty  can  be  shown 
in  the  most  trifling  things.  Work  means  char- 
acter. The  work  is  the  man  come  to  manifesta- 
tion. In  the  last  analysis  it  will  appear  that  this 
world  is  designed  as  a  training-place  for  character. 
The  very  hardness  and  difficulty  of  man's  lot 
call  out  his  hidden  capabilities ;  they  develop 
energy  and  fidelity ;  the  very  hardness  puts  iron 
into  his  blood,  fire  into  his  eye  and  persistence 
into  his  will ;  perseverance,  patience,  fidelity  be- 
come the  crowning  virtues.  AVhat  are  the  quali- 
ties which  enter  into  the  making  of  right  char- 
acter ?  Are  they  not  these  very  virtues  of  energy, 
patience,  perseverance,  faithfulness,  love  and  sac- 
rifice ?  And  where  can  these  qualities  be  so  fully 
gained  or  so  truly  shown  as  in  the  common  oc- 
cupations and  tasks  of  daily  life  ?  "  He  that  is 
faithful  in  a  very  little  is  faithful  also  in  much  : 
and  he  that  is  unrighteous  in  a  very  little  is  un- 
righteous also  in  much.'''  "  Man's  character  has 
been  moulded  by  his  every-day  work,  and  by  the 
material  resources   which  he    thereby  procures. 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET.  221 

more  than  by  any  other  influence,  unless  it  be 
that  of  his  religious  ideals  :  and  the  two  great 
forming  agencies  of  the  world's  history  have  been 
the  religious  and  the  economic.  .  .  .  For  the 
business  by  which  a  person  earns  his  livelihood 
generally  fills  his  thoughts  during  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  those  hours  in  which  his  mind  is  at 
its  best  ;  during  them  his  character  is  being  formed 
by  the  way  in  which  he  uses  his  faculties  in  his 
work,  by  the  thoughts  and  the  feelings  which  it 
suggests,  and  by  the  relations  to  his  associates  in 
work,  his  employers,  or  his  employes  ''  (Mar- 
shall :  Principles  of  Economics,  p.  1). 

II.  The  Moral  Principles  for  the  Mill 
AKD  Market. 

Carlyle  used  to  speak  of  the  science  of  Eco- 
nomics, as  ''  that  dismal  science.''  Much  of  the 
teaching  that  passed  current  in  his  day  as  Eco- 
nomic Science  deserved  that  reproachful  term.  For 
that  teaching  was  almost  wholly  devoid  of  moral 
content,  and  made  wealth  an  end  in  itself  instead 
of  a  means  to  an  end.  Selfishness  it  was  taught 
was  the  basis  of  economic  activity  ;  each  man  was 
expected  to  look  out  for  just  one  person  in  a  trade 
—himself.  Men  were  expected  to  be  kind  and  un- 
selfish in  other  relations  of  life,  but  not  in  trade 
and  business.  A  recent  writer  so  far  perpetuates 
this  error  as  to  say  :  '^Economics  can  never  be 
rightly  invaded  by  ethics  ;  its  undeniable  province 
is  the  facts  and  laws  of  human  nature  that  con- 


222  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

cern  the  pursuit  and  expenditure  of  wealth.  We 
have  no  choice  about  the  intellectual  acceptance 
of  these  truths  "  (Gilman  :  Socialism  and  the 
American  Spirit,  p.  250).  In  much  of  the  thought 
of  the  past  generations  it  has  been  assumed  that 
the  various  sciences  were  separate  and  distinct 
spheres  of  life,  with  no  intercourse  allowable  be- 
tween these  alien  worlds.  Than  this  no  conception 
can  be  more  erroneous,  more  mischievous.  Ethic- 
al principles  cannot  work  in  a  vacuum  :  their 
undeniable  sphere  of  manifestation  is  human  life 
with  its  interests,  relations  and  activities.  Often 
has  it  been  said  that  charity  is  one  thing  and  busi- 
ness is  another  ;  that  religion  and  trade  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  one  another.  A  vigorous  and  care- 
ful writer  has  said  that  the  one  who  should  prose- 
cute his  search  thoughtfully  and  fearlessly,  intent 
only  upon  the  truth,  must  at  length  find  that  the 
''  whole  farrago  which  has  so  long  passed  for  po- 
litical economy  is  true  only  of  irrational  animals 
and  is  altogether  inapplicable  to  rational  man  " 
(Ward :  Psychic  Factors  of  Civilization,  p.  279). 
Much  of  what  has  passed  for  economic  science 
would  have  seemed  antiquated  and  Egyptian  to 
Moses ;  and  Socrates  would  have  been  stoned  on 
the  streets  of  Athens  as  a  corrupter  of  the  youth, 
for  teaching  some  things  that  have  been  said  under 
the  name  of  ^'  economic  science." 

Fortunately  a  new  science  of  economics  is  being 
created  in  which  ethical  considerations  hold  a  first 
place.     Wealth  is  no  longer  seen  to  be  an  end  in 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET.  223 

itself  ;  ^vealth  is  weal,  human  weal.  ^^  "Wealth 
consists  of  the  relative-weal-constituting  elements 
in  man^s  material  environment"  (Clark  :  The  Phi- 
losophy of  Wealth,  p.  4).  ''  Communion  through 
the  material  world  with  God  is  expressed  by  the 
word  property,"  says  Brownson.  But  more  than 
this  the  Christian  principle  assumes  that  every 
part  of  life  is  subject  to  the  dominion  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  all-inclusive  and 
comprehends  every  interest  and  relation  and  ac- 
tivity of  man.  The  Christian  principle  implies 
that  the  Christ  spirit  and  the  Christ  life  are  the 
law  of  life  in  trade  no  less  than  in  the  family  and 
in  the  church.  The  law  of  Christ  bids  us  love 
our  fellows,  not  alone  in  mission  contributions, 
but  in  bargains  and  sales.  The  law  of  Christ  im- 
poses the  obligation  to  bear  one  another^s  burdens, 
not  only  in  the  church  but  in  the  market.  To 
believe  in  the  Lord  is  to  take  his  precepts  down 
into  the  mill  and  the  store,  into  the  shop  and  the 
countingroom,  and  stand  or  fall  with  them  there. 
The  Bible  is  as  much  in  place  in  the  counting- 
room  as  on  the  church  pulpit ;  its  precepts  are  as 
binding  upon  the  factory  as  upon  the  church.  To 
be  a  Christian  disciple  is  to  make  the  spirit  of 
Christ^s  life  the  law  of  one's  life.  To  believe  in 
the  Golden  Rule  is  to  refuse  to  engage  in  any  trans- 
action which  is  not  mutually  advantageous  to  both 
parties.  The  strong  are  to  bear  the  infirmities  of 
the  weak  and  not  to  please  themselves,  as  much  in 
the  railroad  company  as  in  the  prayer  meeting. 


224  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

The  acceptance  of  this  principle  as  the  law  of 
life  in  mill  and  market  is  the  first  requirement. 
The  application  of  this  principle  must  be  left  more 
or  less  to  the  personal  conscience.  No  rules  are 
here  attempted,  as  no  rules  can  be  given  which  will 
apply  in  all  circumstances.  Besides,  the  appli- 
cation of  great  principles  gives  opportunity  for  the 
weighing  of  motives,  the  forecasting  of  results,  the 
choice  of  alternatives.  The  principle  is  that  we 
are  to  love  our  neighbors,  to  bear  their  burdens, 
to  seek  their  interests  in  doing  work,  in  paying 
wages,  in  selling  commodities  ;  that  we  are  to 
please  our  brother  unto  edification  in  the  stock  ex- 
change and  in  the  corporation.  This  ^^rinciple  is 
absolute  in  its  requirement  and  universal  in  its 
sweep,  and  can  admit  no  abatement  under  any 
circumstances.  Not  one  of  us  may  measure  up 
to  this  perfect  law  of  God  ;  but  we  are  justified  by 
faith  when  we  have  a  vision  of  God^s  righteous- 
ness and  make  choice  of  his  will.  A  few  illus- 
trations of  these  general  principles  may  be  sug- 
gestive. 

1.  Every  man  should  be  willing  to  earn  all  he 
receives. 

He  should  be  willing  to  toil  by  sweat  of  brow 
or  sweat  of  brain  for  all  that  comes  into  his 
hands.  There  is  an  ominous  tendency  in  modern 
times,  growing  out  of  the  consuming  haste  to  be 
rich,  to  escape  toil  by  various  makeshifts,  by  specu- 
lation, by  exploiting  the  labor  of  others.  As  an 
illustration  of  this  passion  for  a  fortune  without 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET,  225 

any  moral  sense  of  its  meaning  and  responsibility. 
Mayor  S.  M.  Jones,  of  Toledo,  said  in  the  presence 
of  a  little  graup  of  friends  that  he  had  put  this 
question  to  probably  fifty  American  millionaires  : 
"  Why  do  you  want  to  be  rich  ? ''    Not  one  had 
given  him  an  answer  that  was  in  the  least  satisfac- 
tory.    One  man's  answer  was  :  ''  Why  does  a  man 
want  anything  ?     I  want  to  be  rich  because  I  like 
it/'     Getting  on  in  the  world  has  almost  come  to 
mean  getting  rich.     And  Scripture  long  ago  de- 
clared :  ''He  that  maketh  haste  to  be  rich  shall 
not  be  innocent."     Men  are  not  content  to  labor 
faithfully,  receiving  what  comes  to  them  in  the 
appointment  of  providence  ;  they  are  in  haste  to  be 
rich  ;  and  to  reach  this  end  they  must  resort  too 
often  to  questionable  means.     There  is  a  specula- 
tion  that   is  just  and  fair,  a  speculation  advan- 
tageous to  the  community.     But  there  is  also  a 
speculation  which  passes  beyond  the  safety  line 
and  becomes  a  subtle  form  of  dishonesty  and  ex- 
ploitation.    To  attempt  to  discuss  and  define  just 
speculation  and  discriminate    it  from  gambling 
speculation  would  carry  us  too  far  into  the  region 
of  casuistry.     ''What,  then,  is  gambling  specula- 
tion ?     It  is  buying  or  selling  without  the  power 
or  the  disposition  to  bring  about  any  transfer  of 
real  goods  at  all ;  it  is  selling  what  you  do  not  own, 
or  buying  what  you  do  not  expect  or  wish  to  ac- 
quire ;  it  is  going  through  the  form  of  purchase 
and  sale  without  any  thought  of  actual  goods  or 
actual  trade  ;  it  is  just  betting  on  the  future  prices 


226  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

of  things^'  (Andrews  :  Wealth  and  Moral  Law, 
p.  72).  Again  :  '^  I  say  therefore,  that  business 
gambling,  sham  speculation,  nominal  trading 
which  leaves  actual  values  out  of  view,  differs  in 
no  moral  particular  from  gaming  at  faro,  roulette, 
or  bluff.  It  contributes  to  a  popular  gambling 
mania  which  causes  infinite  loss,  poverty,  and  mis- 
ery ;  he  who  engages  in  it  toys  with  the  stability 
of  his  character  in  its  most  delicate  parts ;  and 
further,  so  far  as  he  gains  livelihood  or  fortune 
from  this  source,  as  many  do,  his  gain  is  theft, 
being  at  the  expense  of  his  fellow-men,  a  taking 
from  society  with  no  return '^  (Ibid.,  pp.  74,  75). 
In  fullest  truth  it  may  be  said  that  some  of  the 
sj^eculative  methods  and  stock-jobbing  operations 
of  our  day  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  polite 
and  respectable  ways  of  violating  the  Eighth  Com- 
mandment. "  To  start  a  company  and  to  induce 
people  to  take  shares  in  it  by  false  representations 
of  the  amount  of  the  subscribed  capital  and  of  its 
probable  success  is  to  steal "  (Dale  :  The  Ten 
Commandments,  p.  197).  Kuskin  has  shown  that 
the  real  source  of  great  riches  consists  in  obtaining 
so  much  victory  over  your  neighbor  as  '^  to  obtain 
the  direction  of  his  work,  and  to  take  the  profits 
of  it.  ;N"o  man  can  become  largely  rich  by  his  per- 
sonal toil.  The  work  of  his  own  hands,  wisely 
directed,  will  always  maintain  himself  and  his 
family,  and  make  fitting  provision  for  his  age. 
But  it  is  only  by  the  discovery  of  some  method  of 
taxing  the  labor  of  others  that  he  can  become  opu- 


IN  MILL  AND  MAliKET.  227 

lent"  (Munera  Pulveris,  sec.  139).  It  is  possible 
that  there  is  some  slight  exaggeration  in  this  ;  it 
does  not  allow  for  the  wealth  that  may  be  won 
through  some  fortunate  and  useful  invention  ;  but 
in  the  main  Ruskin  is  right.  The  Emperor  of 
China  has  said  :  ''  If  there  was  a  man  who  did  not 
work  or  a  woman  that  was  idle,  somebody  must 
suffer  cold  and  hunger  in  the  empire."  The  prin- 
ciple, however,  is  clear  :  Every  man  should  be  will- 
ing to  earn  by  his  own  toil  whatever  comes  into 
his  hands,  and  not  seek  to  charm  it  out  of  the 
hand  of  his  neighbor. 

2.  The  application  of  this  principle  obliges  each 
to  regard  the  other  as  his  brother,  and  to  render 
him  the  largest  and  highest  possible  service.  This 
applies  to  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men,  to 
workingmen  and  merchants,  to  employers,  to 
traders,  to  farmers.  Suppose  the  workingmen  of 
a  certain  line  of  manufacture  could  so  combine  as 
to  control  all  the  skilled  workmen  in  that  line  of 
industry.  For  them  to  meet  and  demand  certain 
wage  of  their  employees  without  respect  to  their 
interests  or  the  state  of  trade  would  be  a  violation 
of  the  law  of  love.  On  the  other  hand,  suppose 
that  the  manufacturers  of  a  certain  line  of  goods 
should  effect  a  combination  and  agree  to  pay  so 
much  wages  to  their  employes  without  respect  to 
their  interests  or  claims  ;  no  less  must  we  pro- 
nounce this  transaction  essentially  unjust  and  un- 
christian. It  is  by  the  harmonious  combination 
of  laborer  and  employer  that  satisfactory  results 


228  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

are  secured.  When  either  party,  because  of  its 
possession  of  strength,  takes  advantage  of  the 
other  party,  injustice  is  done,  and  the  law  of  love 
is  violated.  "  The  matching  of  strength  against 
weakness  is  contrary  to  fighting  codes  ;  equal 
armor  and  equal  weapons  were  the  rule  of  knight- 
hood" (Clark-:  The  Philosophy  of  Wealth,  p. 
165).  Again:  *' A  few  men  without  employment 
and  a  few  employers  without  souls  are  the  condi- 
tions of  a  general  reduction  of  wages  below  the 
point  to  which  more  legitimate  causes  would  re- 
duce them"  (Ibid.,  p.  169). 

The  royal  law  of  Christ  expects  the  working- 
man  to  give  the  largest  and  best  service  to  his  em- 
ployer, and  to  seek  his  interests, — in  a  word,  to 
render  the  largest  possible  service.  On  the  other 
hand,  that  law  obliges  the  employer  lo  treat  his 
employes  as  brothers  and  to  pay  them  the  largest 
wages  that  the  state  of  market  will  allow.  Em- 
ployers and  employed  are  partners  in  trade  ;  they 
are  brother  men,  and  each  must  look  not  only  on 
the  things  of  self,  but  each  also  on  the  things  of 
others.  The  success  of  the  business  depends  quite 
as  much  upon  the  interest  and  fidelity  of  employes 
as  upon  the  skill  and  management  of  employers. 
Of  course  superior  skill  will  always  command  su- 
perior wages  ;  to  equalize  wages  is  to  put  a  pre- 
mium upon  mediocrity.  Laborer  and  capitalist 
both  take  risks  and  jeopardize  much  ;  the  capital- 
ist may  jeopardize  the  luxuries  of  his  home  and 
his  capital ;  the  workingman  often  jeopardizes  his 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET.  229 

very  life  and  the  welfare  of  his  family.  The  rela- 
tion between  employer  and  employed  is  more  than 
a  cash  nexus  ;  the  parties  in  every  transaction  are 
not  aliens,  not  machines,  but  brother  men,  and 
are  to  be  mutually  cherished  as  brothers.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  expect  that  under  the  influence  of 
the  Christian  principle  there  will  arise  a  class  of 
*^  Captains  of  Industry ''  who  will  seek  to  organize 
industries  with  other  aims  than  selfish  accumula- 
tion, and  will  attack  the  problems  of  society  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Golden  Eule. 

3.  This  principle  forbids  one  to  take  any  undue 
advantage  of  his  fellows.  The  fundamental  idea 
of  trade  and  commerce  is  a  rendering  of  services 
or  an  exchange  of  commodities.  The  implication 
is  that  this  exchange  is  mutually  advantageous  to 
both  parties.  The  old  idea  that  the  parties  in  the 
business  transaction  are  enemies,  and  any  advan- 
tage may  be  taken  the  one  of  the  other,  belongs  to 
the  primitive,  military,  and  jungle  plane  of  society. 
The  Christian  conception  of  humanity  obliges  us  to 
regard  men  not  as  enemies  to  be  beaten  but  as  broth- 
ers to  be  served.  Hence  all  commerce  between 
men  is  but  an  exchange  between  friends,  and  each 
desires  that  it  be  wholly  just  as  between  members 
of  the  same  family.  The  best  illustration  of  our 
principle  is  a  case  stated  by  Cicero  in  De  Officiis. 

A  merchant  of  Alexandria  arrived  in  Ehodes  in 
a  time  of  famine  with  a  cargo  of  grain.  He  knew 
that  a  fleet  of  vessels  loaded  with  similar  grain 
was  on  its  way  from  Alexandria,  and  would  soon 


230  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

arrive  in  the  same  harbor.  Cicero  raises  the  ques- 
tion whether  this  grain  merchant  shall  conceal 
this  information  from  the  Ehodians,  and,  taking 
advantage  of  their  ignorance  and  necessity,  demand 
the  highest  famine  price  for  his  grain.  And  this 
old  teacher  of  morals  decides  that  he  was  bound 
in  conscience  to  inform  the  Rhodians  of  the  facts 
in  the  case.  For  any  bargain  or  contract  implies 
fair-dealing  and  truth-telling.  The  man  who  fixes 
the  price  of  an  article  is  supposed  to  do  so  in  good 
faith,  basing  his  price  upon  his  knowledge  of  the 
goods  and  all  the  circumstances  in  the  case.  Sup- 
pose that  this  grain  merchant  had  taken  advantage 
of  the  people^s  necessity  and  had  concealed  the  in- 
formation in  his  possession  ;  his  price  for  the  grain 
would  not  be  fixed  in  good  faith  and  he  would  be 
guilty  of  falsehood.  But  had  he  fixed  a  price 
based  upon  his  opinion  of  probability  as  to  when 
the  other  vessels  would  arrive,  his  transaction 
would  be  fair.  The  fundamental  fact  in  a  right 
bargain,  we  repeat,  is  mutual  advantage.  Of 
course,  to  the  one  who  assumes  that  neither  party 
is  expected  to  act  in  good  faith,  this  interj)retation 
of  the  case  in  hand  will  be  unsatisfactory.  But 
we  have  assumed,  and  we  shall  assume,  that  the 
man  who  fixes  a  price  bases  that  price  upon  his 
judgment  of  the  goods,  the  information  in  his  pos- 
session, and  the  mutual  advantage  of  all  parties.* 

*  For  a  full  discussion  of  this  question  of  Cicero,  see 
Orville  Dewey's  Works,  and  also  "Capital  and  Labor," 
a  prize  book. 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET.  231 

Not  selfishness,  but  love  is  the  basis  of  all  right 
economic  science.  The  purely  selfish,  competitive 
instinct  rules  in  the  jungle  across  tribal  linec  ; 
tigers  and  lions  know  no  altruism,  no  love.  But 
Professor  Drummond  has  shown  that  among 
animals  of  the  same  species,  at  least,  there  is  the 
beginning  of  altruism,  a  struggle  for  the  life  of 
others.  Competition,  it  has  been  assumed,  will 
settle  all  things ;  the  laAV  of  supply  and  demand 
is  inexorable  ;  each  man  must  look  out  for  him- 
self. But  competition  is  sometimes  most  cruel 
and  may  be  wholly  unjust.  *^^  Competition  with- 
out moral  restraints  is  a  monster  as  completely  an- 
tiquated as  the  saurians  of  which  the  geologists  tell 
us"  (Clark  :  The  Philosophy  of  Wealth,  p.  151). 
All  students  of  economic  affairs  know  ^^  that  prices 
of  most  of  the  staple  commodities  consumed  by 
mankind  have  no  necessary  relation  to  the  cost  of 
producing  them  and  placing  them  in  the  hands  of 
the  consumer ''  (Ward  :  Psychic  Factors  of  Civil- 
ization, p.  327).  This  same  writer  also  shows 
that  competition  not  only  involves  great  waste,  but 
it  prevents  the  maximum  development.  He  makes 
clear  that  society  will  attain  its  maximum  develop- 
ment and  waste  will  be  reduced  by  the  larger  sway 
of  other  factors.  Too  long  it  has  been  assumed 
that  men  are  free  to  do  their  brothers  to  the  death, 
provided  only,  ^^the  instrument  be  a  bargain  and 
the  arena  a  market."  Too  long  also  this  conception 
of  trade  has  justified  the  lines  : 


232  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

Our  life  is  like  a  narrow  raft, 
Afloat  upon  the  hungry  sea, 
Whereon  is  but  a  little  space  ; 
And  each  man,  eager  for  a  place, 
Doth  thrust  his  brother  in  the  sea, 
And  so  the  sea  is  salt  with  tears. 
And  so  our  life  is  worn  with  fears. 

The  resolute  determination  to  live  and  trade  on 
the  moral  and  loving  basis  will  require  strong  faith 
and  fine  courage.  This  life-long  allegiance  to  the 
Christian  principle,  which  sometimes  means  loss, 
will  try  the  temper  of  any  man's  spirit.  The 
strength,  the  coherence,  the  fiber  of  his  character 
will  be  tested  here  as  nowhere  else  in  the  world. 
^^I  think  we  all  find  it  the  hardest  and  most  hope- 
less work  of  all  our  lives/'  said  Phillips  Brooks, 
*^the  effort  to  keep  our  highest  ideas  and  our  com- 
monest occupations  in  constant  and  healthy  con- 
tact with  each  other"  (Influence  of  Jesus,  p.  21). 
But  the  degree  in  which  one  does  this  measures 
most  accuratelv  the  fineness  and  fiber  of  his  char- 
acter. 

Nothing  can  be  more  important  than  the  en- 
thronement of  the  Christian  spirit  as  the  law  of 
life  in  the  industrial  world.  So  far  as  men  learn 
to  do  this,  they  will  learn  to  regard  their  daily 
work  as  a  divine  calling  and  a  priestly  sacrifice. 
In  every  relation  of  man  with  man  there  is  a  field 
for  justice.  And  Aristotle  has  suggested  that 
wherever  there  is  a  field  for  justice  there  is  also  a 
field  for  love.     And  Fremantle  has  supplemented 


IN  MILL  AND  MARKET,  233 

this  by  saying  that  wherever  there  is  a  field  for 
love  there  is  also  a  field  for  the  operation  of  the 
divine  Spirit.  In  one  of  the  European  cities 
there  is  a  temple  through  which  is  a  passage- 
way into  a  market.  Those  who  pass  into  the 
market  to  buy  and  sell  may  turn  aside  to  kneel 
at  the   altar   of   prayer   and  to    commune    with 

God. 

Scientific  writers  have  maintained  that  struggle 
is  necessary  to  the  full  development  of  life.     This 
we  can  readily  believe  :  life  means  effort  ;  the  way 
to  victory  lies  across  a  battlefield  ;  character  is  an 
achievement.     But  it  is  easily  conceivable  that  all 
the  discipline  of  struggle  necessary  to  any  man  can 
come  through  the  struggle  for  the  life  of  others. 
Surely  it  is  not  too  much  to  expect  that  increasing 
numbers  of  Captains  of  Industry  will  arise  who  will 
organize  industries  for  the  benefit  of  all  mankind. 
Under  the  increasing  sway  of  the  Christian  spirit, 
''  we  may  look  forward  to  a  time  when  the  un- 
selfish motives  will  have  fuller  development,  when 
the  wish  to  benefit  the  community  will  stimulate 
men's  energies  more  fully  than  competition,  and 
when  the  public  recognition  of  service,  and  the 
gratitude  of  those  who  are  benefited,  may  be  an 
adequate   guarantee  for  efficiency  "   (Fremantle  : 
The  World  as  the  Subject  of  Redemption,  p.  348). 
At  any  rate  it  holds  true  now  that  all  work  honestly 
done  receives  its  due  reward  in  the  character  of  the 
doer  ;  it  is  a  co-operation  with  God  in  the  creation 
of  order  and  beauty  ;  all  trade  that  fulfills  the  royal 


234  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

law  becomes  a  divine  service  and  contributes  unto 
the  building  up  of  the  body  of  society  in  love. 
Thus  is  fulfilled  the  old  motto  framed  by  the  monks, 
Laborare  est  orare. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   CITIZEIT   AK"D    HIS    POLITICS. 

And  I  John  saw  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from 
God  out  of  heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband. 
And  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  anything  unclean,  or  he  that 
maketh  an  abomination  and  a  lie.— The  Apocalypse. 

Yes,  the  vision  of  the  Apocalypse  is  for  us  also.  Beyond  these 
crowded  thoroughfares  which  bewilder  us,  these  crushing  palaces 
of  commerce  which  overwhelm  us,  this  sordid  glare  which  dazzles 
and  saddens  us,  rises  before  the  believer  the  holy  city,  pure  and 
still.— Brooke  Foss  Westcott. 

From  history  we  learn  that  the  great  function  of  religion  has 
been  the  founding  and  sustaining  of  states.— J.  B,.  Seeley. 

Government  is  not  transient,  nor  a  necessary  evil,  but  eternal  in 
the  heart  of  God,  and  is  the  discipline  and  education  of  the  people 
in  the  image  and  right  of  the  only  perfectly  governed  man  the 
world  has  known,  the  man  Christ  Jesus.—  George  D.  Herron. 

There  are  three  institutions  known  to  man 
which  are  divine  in  origin,  the  family,  the  church, 
and  the  state.  Each  of  these  has  its  own  func- 
tions, though  covering  much  the  same  sphere. 
Each  has  its  own  mission,  though  they  all 
work  toward  the  one  common  end.  Each  is  a 
medium  through  which  man  ascends  to  God, 
and  through  each  the  life  of  God  is  getting  itself 
reborn  into  the  life  of  humanity.  Each  is  an  out- 
lyino-  principality  of  that  kingdom  which  is  over 
-^     °  -^  (235) 


236  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

all.  Each  aims  to  realize  the  ideals  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  to  translate  them  into  human  lives, 
and  fulfill  them  in  human  relations.  As  the  sun- 
light which  fills  the  heavens  and  floods  the  earth 
seeks  to  get  itself  reborn  and  translated  into  the 
wheatfield  and  the  rose  ;  so  the  life  and  righteous- 
ness and  love  of  the  kingdom  seek  to  get  them- 
selves incarnated  in  human  lives,  manifested  in 
human  relations,  and  fixed  in  human  institu- 
tions. 

"  Life  cannot  be  completed  within  the  sheltered 
precincts  of  the  home.  As  the  years  go  on  the 
child  enters  naturally  into  a  wider  sphere.  The 
friendshij)s  of  school,  the  intercourse  of  business, 
reveal  to  the  growing  boy  new  obligations,  new  joys, 
new  temptations,  new  conflicts  through  which  the 
lessons  of  earlier  discipline  are  extended  and  ap- 
plied. He  learns  to  be  one  of  many,  and  in  a 
varied  companionship  to  give  definiteness  to  that 
which  he  has  in  common  with  his  fellows.  In 
this  way  the  idea  of  the  nation,  the  society  of 
neighbors,  is  called  into  active  exercise,  to  supple- 
ment the  idea  of  the  family,  the  society  of  kins- 
men in  blood.  At  the  same  time  the  life  of  the 
family  is  seen  in  its  continuity  and  in  its  breadth 
in  the  life  of  the  nation.  Thus  the  nation  is 
found  to  be  the  second  type,  the  second  broaden- 
ing circle  of  social  life  "  (Westcott :  Social  Aspects 
of  Christianity,  pp.  35,  36).  No  man  has  attained 
unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  Christian  char- 
acter, till  he  has  learned  to  honor  and  fulfill  all 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.         237 

the  relationships  which  he  sustains  to  his  fellows. 
The  great  virtues  of  Christianity  are  largely  social 
virtues,  that  is,  they  are  virtues  which  have  their 
subsistence  in  the  relation  of  man  with  man.  It  is  in 
the  wide  sphere  of  the  state  that  the  virtues  of  love 
and  forbearance,  fidelity  and  humility,  patience 
and  goodness  have  their  full  meaning  and  come  to 
their  perfect  work.  At  this  stage  of  our  study  it 
is  fitting  that  we  consider  the  Christian  Citizen  as 
a  member  of  the  social  order,  seeking  to  realize 
the  deeper  meaning  of  the  state,  and  endeavoring 
to  fulfill  every  social  and  political  duty  to  the 
glory  of  God. 

I.  The  Divin"e  Meakiin'g  of  the  State. 

The  state  is  involved  in  the  very  constitution  of 
man.  Aristotle  long  ago  taught  that  man  is  by 
nature  a  political  being ;  the  man  who  is  natu- 
rally, not  accidentally,  unfit  for  society  is  either 
inferior  or  superior  to  man.  We  are  all  dependent 
upon  one  another,  and  the  state  is  at  once  a  con- 
fession of  our  personal  incompleteness,  and  is  the 
divine  provision  for  meeting  this  lack.  Man  is 
made  for  fellowship,  and  cannot  attain  unto  per- 
fection and  fullness  of  being  in  isolation  and 
solitude.  Thought  cannot  conceive  of  a  single, 
isolated,  unrelated  individual.  Each  man^s  life  is 
linked  in  with  other  lives  by  ties  which  cannot  be 
evaded  or  escaped.  Our  lives  touch  other  lives, 
and  the  state  is  the  provision  which  God  has  made 
for  the  right  adjustment  of  these  human  relation- 


v/ 


238  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

ships.  Apart  from  liuman  fellowship  man  cannot 
come  to  his  best  estate,  as  the  rose  cannot  bloom 
without  soil  and  sunshine  and  rain.  Our  personal 
life  is  rooted  in  the  life  of  humanity  ;  it  flourishes 
in  that  soil,  and  draws  its  richest  nourishment, 
and  unfolds  its  highest  possibilities  in  that  soil. 
Shakespeare,  raised  from  infancy  among  apes, 
would  be  a  speechless,  unthinking  brute.  Without 
attempting  to  go  into  detail  it  may  not  be  un- 
necessary to  consider  briefly  the  place  which  the 
state  holds  in  the  economy  of  life. 

The  state  is  the  organ  of  the  political  conscious- 
ness in  man.  Man  comes  into  the  world  endowed 
with  the  instinct  which  impels  him  to  seek  as- 
sociation with  his  kind.  Each  man  is  a  member 
of  an  ordsr  or  life  which  reaches  before  him  and 
after  him  :  no  one  can  stand  alone,  absolute,  inde- 
pendent. Man,  by  the  very  constitution  of  his 
being,  is  a  creature  of  relationships,  and  it  is  only 
in  and  through  these  relationships  that  he  comes 
to  maturity,  perfection  and  self-consciousness. 
Various  views  have  been  advanced  as  to  the 
origin  of  states  ;  these  views  we  shall  not  stop  to 
notice.  It  matters  not  what  theory  of  the  origin 
of  states  be  adopted,  one  fact  remains  :  each  man 
finds  in  himself  an  impulse  and  consciousness  of 
which  the  state  becomes  the  realization  and  expres- 
sion. In  the  persons  who  compose  the  state  there 
was  an  implicit  and  subjective  consciousness  of 
oneness,  and  this  consciousness  becomes  explicit 
and  objective  in  the  state.     The  ties  that  bind 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.        239 

men  together  are  ties  which  they  did  not  invent 
and  which  they  cannot  destroy. 

The  state  is  the  institute  of  right  relations.  The 
origin  of  the  state  is  to  be  found  in  the  nature  of 
man.  ''  A  state/'  as  Plato  makes  Socrates  say, 
'^  arises  as  I  conceive  out  of  the  needs  of  mankind  ; 
no  one  is  self-sufficient,  but  all  of  us  have  many 
wants.  Can  any  other  origin  of  a  state  be  imag- 
ined ?''  '^None/'  replied  Adeimantus  (Republic, 
Bk.  II.).  Avery  simple  condition  of  human  life 
may  not  need  a  state.  Robinson  Crusoe  alone  with 
Man  Friday  can  get  along  very  well  without  govern- 
ment. But  the  moment  Crusoe  returns  to  civi- 
lized and  social  life,  which  he  was  so  willing  to 
do,  that  moment  the  relations  of  life  multiply  and 
the  state  becomes  necessary  to  correlate  and  adjust 
these  relations.  The  state  we  may  say  is  a  co- 
ordinating apparatus  ;  it  endeavors  to  apprehend 
the  rights  which  belong  to  human  nature  and  to 
co-ordinate  and  conserve  these  rights.  The  state 
finds  men  existing  in  certain  relations  with  one 
another  ;  it  endeavors  to  ascertain  what  are  the 
relations  which  should  subsist  between  them  ;  it 
defines  these  relations  and  puts  upon  them  the 
stamp  of  its  approval  and  makes  them  obligatory. 
The  state  does  not  create  the  relations  of  father 
and  son,  of  husband  and  wife,  of  neighbor  and 
neighbor,  of  man  and  property.  But  the  state 
with  its  authority  guards  and  sanctions  these  rela- 
tions and  puts  the  stamp  of  obligation  upon  them. 
The  state  thus  becomes  the  institute  of  right  rela- 


240  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

tions  ;  it  becomes  the  guarantee  to  eacli  man  that 
his  rights  shall  be  respected  and  the  proper  order 
of  the  community  shall  be  maintained.  The  laws 
of  the  state  become  pledges  of  security,  agreements 
of  fair  dealing,  rules  of  social  conduct,  laws  which 
each  is  under  obligation  to  observe  in  his  dealings 
with  his  neighbors.  In  a  simple  form  of  society 
the  relationships  of  man  with  man  are  few  ;  and 
hence  the  rights  defined  are  few.  But  as  society 
becomes  more  complex  these  relationships  multiply, 
men  are  driven  closer  together,  they  become  more 
dependent  upon  one  another  ;  now  the  relationships 
of  life  which  press  so  closely  upon  all  become  in- 
tolerable, unless  they  are  right  relations. 

The  state  is  also  a  partnership  of  men  in  all 
good.  From  various  sides  the  state  has  been 
attacked  and  its  usefulness  denied.  It  has  been 
maintained  that  the  state  is  an  unnecessary  evil, 
and  hence  is  unworthy  the  support  of  all  right- 
thinking  men.  Possibly  the  most  prominent  and 
pronounced  advocate  of  this  view  is  the  great 
Eussian,  Count  Leo  Tolstoi.  It  can  easily  be 
shown  that  Tolstoi  is  not  consistent  with  himself. 
His  words  however  are  worthy  of  careful  considera- 
tion, because  he  has  called  attention  to  some  of 
the  great  and  serious  abuses  of  government. 
Again  :  others  have  maintained  that  government 
is  an  evil,  but  for  the  present  is  a  necessary  evil. 
The  advocates  of  this  theory  maintain  that  the 
state  is  necessary  in  an  evolving  and  imperfect 
society,  but  that  it,  being  evil,  must  soon  or  late 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.         241 

disappear.  Over  against  these  views  we  set  these 
noble  words  of  Burke  :  ^'  Without  civil  society 
man  could  not  by  any  possibility  arrive  at  the 
perfection  of  which  his  nature  is  capable,  nor  even 
make  a  remote  and  faint  approach  to  it.  ...  He 
who  gave  our  nature  to  be  perfected  by  our  virtue, 
willed  also  the  necessary  means  to  its  perfection. 
—  He  willed  therefore  the  state — he  willed  its  con- 
nection with  the  source  and  original  archetype  of 
all  perfection  "  (Reflections  on  the  Revolution  in 
France,  370,  Bohn).  Men  are  not  equal  in  en- 
dowment, in  talent,  in  power.  For  a  long  time  to 
come  the  strong  will  be  under  obligation  to  bear 
the  infirmities  of  the  weak.  The  state  is  the 
medium  through  which  the  power  of  one  becomes 
the  good  of  all.  Individual  effort  may  do  much 
for  the  improvement  of  other  individuals  ;  but  in- 
dividual effort  to  be  highly  successful  must  be 
supported  by  the  social  order :  it  must  work 
through  the  social  order.  The  state  is  in  the  best 
sense  the  medium  through  which  personal  power 
is  conveyed  to  all  and  is  made  effective  for  all. 
The  state  is  the  only  organ  or  medium  great  *^ 
enough  to  express  these  varied  powers  of  men,  the 
only  medium  through  which  men  can  most  effect- 
ually co-operate  in  the  attainment  of  social  perfec- 
tion. Political  visionaries  have  drawn  beautiful 
pictures  of  the  blessedness  and  freedom  of  man  in 
what  they  are  pleased  to  call  a  state  of  nature. 
But  no  such  men  have  been  found  ;  such  men  are 
not  perfect  men  in  the  full  meaning  of  the  term, 
i6 


242  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

Worthy  of  all  accei3tance  are  the  words  of  Bnrke, 
one  of  the  clearest  political  thinkers  of  the  world  : 
*'  The  state  ought  not  to  be  considered  as  nothing 
better  tlian  a  partnership  agreement  in  a  trade  of 
pepper  and  coffee,  calico  or  tobacco,  or  some  other 
such  low  concern,  to  be  taken  up  for  a  little  tem- 
porary interest,  and  to  be  dissolved  by  the  fancy 
of  the  parties.  It  is  to  be  looked  on  with,  rev- 
erence ;  because  it  is  not  a  partnership  in  things 
subservient  only  to  the  gross  animal  existence  of 
a  temporary  and  perishable  nature.  It  is  a  part- 
nership in  all  science  ;  a  partnership  in  all  art ;  a 
partnership  in  every  virtue  and  in  all  perfection" 
(French  Revolution,  p.  368). 

The  state  is  an  instrument  through  which  God 
declares  and  exercises  his  authority  over  men. 
Government  is  a  usurpation  to  be  resisted  and 
changed,  if  it  is  not  a  divine  ordinance,  deriving 
authority  from  him  who  is  Lord  of  all,  existing 
for  the  one  purpose  of  fulfilling  his  ends.  God^s 
right  to  rule  over  men  in  all  relations  is  a  right 
which  he  has  never  surrendered,  and  which  he 
will  never  surrender  to  any  earthly  government. 
Back  of  the  state  is  God  :  back  of  the  civil  statute 
is  the  righteousness  of  God  ;  back  of  the  earthly 
ruler  is  the  King  of  kings.  The  Biblical  teaching 
on  this  subject  is  plain  and  unmistakable.  The 
underlying  idea  of  the  Judaic  legislation  was  the 
kingship  of  Jehovah.  Judges,  rulers,  and  kings 
were  not  regarded  as  sources  of  authority,  but 
only  as    channels.     The   judges   are   charged  to 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.        243 

judge  righteously:  ^'^  For  the  judgment  is  Grod^s." 
Back  of  the  king  was  Jehovah,  the  supreme  Ruler 
whose  will  was  the  standard  of  the  national  con- 
science, and  all  kingly  and  temporal  authority  is 
derived  from  him.  To  this  standard  the  con- 
science of  the  nation  ever  must  appeal,  and  by  it 
all  cases  are  to  be  tested.  The  demand  of  the 
people  for  a  king  wiio  should  be  a  visible  source  of 
authority  was  regarded  by  Jehovah  as  an  act  of 
national  aj^ostasy  :  ''  They  have  not  rejected  thee, 
but  they  have  rejected  me,  that  I  should  not  be 
king  over  them''  (R.  V.,  1  Samuel  viii.  7). 

The  "New  Testament  teaching  does  not  set  aside 
nor  destroy  this  old  conception  ;  rather  it  enlarges 
and  fulfills  it.  Paul  says  :  ^^  There  is  no  power 
but  of  God ;  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of 
God.''  He  bids  Christians  pray  for  rulers,  and  for 
all  who  are  m  authority  ;  the  ruler  is  the  minister, 
the  deacon  of  God  to  thee  for  good.  In  the  life 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  we  have  one  striking  illustra- 
tion of  his  conception  of  the  "meaning  of  human 
government.  The  reference  though  indirect  is 
all  the  more  significant.  When  on  trial  before 
Pilate  he  is  questioned,  *^' Whence  art  thou?" 
The  question  contains  a  hint  that  there  is  some 
mysterious  power  lying  back  of  this  strange  pris- 
oner. Pilate  becomes  irritated  at  the  refusal  of 
Jesus  to  answer  his  questions  of  curiosity,  and 
says  :  ^'  Speakest  thou  not  unto  me  ?  Knowest 
thou  not  that  I  have  power  to  crucify  thee,  and 
have  power  to  release  thee  ? "     The  Roman  Gov- 


244  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

ernor  thinks  of  this  power  as  something  that  he 
can  use  as  caprice  may  dictate.  The  answer  of 
Jesus  is  most  significant,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
suggestive  words  he  ever  sjDoke  :  "  Thou  couldest 
have  no  power  at  all  against  me,  except  it  were 
given  thee  from  above/''  The  words  imply  that 
Pilate^s  power,  which  he  regards  as  arbitrary  and 
irresponsible,  power  which  he  is  about  to  misuse 
so  flagrantly,  has  its  source  in  that  mysterious 
unseen  world  whence  the  Son  of  man  has  come. 
This  power,  which  Pilate  thinks  himself  free  to 
use  as  he  pleases,  is  power  delegated  to  him  from 
the  unseen  world.  They  contain  also  a  gentle  but 
searching  appeal  intended  to  remind  the  Eoman 
that  he  also  is  accountable  to  the  Judge  and  King 
of  all  the  earth.  Pilate  was  a  Eoman'  politician, 
and  had  probably  obtained  this  appointment 
through  intrigue  or  influence ;  for  this  reason  he 
was  hardly  expected  to  recognize  the  high  and 
divine  meaning  of  the  position  which  he  occupied. 
But  the  Jewish  Sanhedrin  understood  well  the 
great  truth  that  all  human  earthly  rulers  were  the 
representatives  of  God,  and  were  appointed  to 
execute  the  judgments  of  God.  That  government 
was  a  divine  ordinance  was  one  of  the  fundamental 
ideas  of  the  Jewish  nation.  For  the  Sanhedrin  to 
misuse  this  divine  ordinance,  and  make  it  the 
instrument  of  their  evil  designs,  was  one  of  the 
greatest  and  most  heinous  sins.  On  this  account 
they  who  delivered  Jesus  to  the  Eoman  Governor, 
and  demanded  that  he  prostitute  his  high  office  in 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.        245 

carrying  out  their  wicked  devices,  were  guilty  of 
the  blackest  crime.  Government,  which  was  a 
divine  ordinance,  and  should  be  used  to  divine 
ends,  they  desecrated  and  prostituted,  when  they 
made  it  the  instrument  of  caprice  and  self-will. 
From  all  this  it  is  plain  that  the  state  is  an  ordi-  / 
nance  of  God,  government  is  his  instrument  for 
the  jorotection  of  man,  the  avenging  of  wrong,  and 
the  establishment  of  righteousness. 

II.  The  Citizeis^ship  of  the  Christiajt  Dis- 
ciple. 

No  institution,  no  power  on  earth,  so  holds  in 
its  grasp  the  weal  or  woe  of  the  millions  now  living 
and  of  the  millions  yet  to  come  as  the  state.  The 
social  order,  the  national  sentiments,  the  govern- 
mental regulations,  influence  immeasurably  every 
soul  that  comes  within  their  reach.  More  and  • 
more  men  are  coming  to  see  that  the  state  has  a 
moral  end,  and  that  the  real  work  of  citizens  con- 
sists in  so  shaping  institutions  and  so  framing 
legislation  that  conditions  may  be  secured  favor- 
able to  the  development  of  noble  characters.  The 
true  wealth  of  states  is  to  be  measured,  not  in 
terms  of  material  resources,  but  in  the  growth  of 
moral  personality.  Says  Aristotle:  ^^ A  state  ex- 
ists for  the  sake  of  a  good  life,  and  not  for  the 
sake  of  life  only  ;  if  life  only  were  the  object, 
slaves  and  brute  animals  might  form  a  state  ;  but 
they  cannot,  for  they  have  no  share  in  happiness 
or  in  a  life  of  free  choice.     Whence  it  may  be 


246  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

inferred  that  virtue  must  be  the  serious  care  of  a 
state  which  truly  deserves  the  name  :  for,  without 
this  ethical  end,  the  community  becomes  a  mere 
alliance  which  differs  only  in  place  from  alliances 
of  which  the  members  live  apart ;  and  law  is  only 
a  convention,  a  '  surety  to  one  another  of  justice/ 
as  the  sophist  Lycophron  says,  and  has  no  real 
power  to  make  the  citizens  good ''  (Politics,  Bk. 
III.  9).  The  state  is  the  nursery  of  men,  and 
unless  noble  men  are  being  produced,  every  great 
end  of  the  state's  existence  is  thwarted.  Politics 
is  the  science  of  social  welfare,  and  has  at  heart 
the  achievement  of  a  social  order  in  which  the 
ideals  of  humanity  shall  be  realized. 

Since  this  is  so,  every  citizen  should  be  a  politi- 
cian in  the  larger  and  better  sense  of  the  word. 
This  means  that  every  member  of  the  state  should 
be  concerned  in  all  that  makes  for  the  welfare  of 
the  state.  That  noble  word  ^'  politics  "  needs  to  be 
redeemed  from  the  mire  and  the  gutter,  through 
which  it  has  been  dragged  by  groundling  partisans. 
It  is  said  that  Dwight  L.  Moody,  in  conversation 
with  a  noted  evangelist,  a  short  time  before  an 
important  election,  inquired  :  ''  What  is  the  politi- 
cal outlook?"  ^''I  don't  know  anything  about 
it,"  was  the  answer.  ^'  My  citizenship  is  in  heav- 
en." ^'  Better  get  it  down  to  earth  for  the  next 
sixty  days,"  was  the  reply  of  the  wise  man.  To 
play  the  shirk  in  one's  political  duty  is  as  serious 
and  as  sinful  as  to  play  the  shirk  in  the  home 
or  in  the  church.     Nay,  it  is  often  more  serious. 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.        247 

as  the  interests  involved  in  the  state  are  often 
hirger  and  more  urgent  than  the  interests  of  the 
church  or  the  home. 

In  the  providence  of  God  it  has  come  about  / 
that  the  citizens  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  nearly 
all  nations  are  directly  or  indirectly  the  makers 
and  administrators  of  law.  There  are  many  ques- 
tions growing  out  of  this  fact,  upon  which  the 
New  Testament  throws  no  direct  light.  Christian-  y 
ity  is  committed  to  no  particular  form  of  govern- 
ment, whether  monarchy  or  democracy.  But  the 
principles  of  the  kingdom  are  to  be  the  informing, 
vitalizing  principles  of  each  and  every  nation. 
The  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God  supplies  us  with 
civil  and  social  ideals,  with  constructive  and  regu- 
lative principles  the  highest  and  noblest.  The 
essential  truths  of  Christianity  are  architectonic^ 
and  furnish  at  once  the  foundation  basis,  and  the 
regulative  ideal  for  the  social  order.  Soon  or  late, 
the  Christian  disciple  must  face  these  alternatives  : 
whether  he  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  social 
and  political  affairs  ;  or  whether  he  will  claim 
every  political  privilege  and  make  his  civil  and 
social  privileges  the  flowering  and  fruitage  of  the 
Christian  spirit.  He  must  do  one  or  the  other. 
Either  he  must  refrain  from  all  participation  in 
civil  affairs  ;  or  he  must  make  his  civil  acts  the 
expression  of  his  Christian  convictions.  To  refrain 
from  all  participation  in  civil  affairs  does  not 
commend  itself  to  the  better  Christian  conscience 
as  the  wise  course.     The  race  has  not  progressed 


248  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

backwards,  and  all  progress  towards  popular  gov- 
ernment lias  not  been  a  retrogression.  Whether 
all  men  are  willing  to  accept  the  responsibilities 
of  citizenship  is  one  question  ;  the  fact  remains 
that  in  many  nations  to-day  they  are  charged  with 
these  responsibilities,  and  cannot  evade  or  escape 
them  without  being  recreant  to  high  trusts.  A 
great  and  significant  movement  is  going  on  in  the 
world  to-day,  a  movement  fraught  with  immeasur- 
able woe  or  immeasurable  blessing  to  countless 
numbers  of  our  race.  The  great  nations  of  the 
world  are  launching  forth  full  on  the  tide  of 
popular  government.  Slowly  the  scepter  of 
authority  has  passed  from  the  monarch  to  the  few, 
and  from  the  few  to  the  many.  To-day,  in  half- 
a-dozen  leading  nations,  the  people  are  practically 
supreme,  and  more  or  less  determine  the  laws  and 
manage  the  government.  This  means  that  all  the 
people  are  summoned  to  participate  in  the  respon- 
sibilities of  the  social  welfare.  At  a  great  price 
humanity  has  gained  this  privilege.  The  past 
three  centuries  have  witnessed  a  great  change ; 
the  transit  and  transfer  of  power  first  from  the 
monarch  to  the  aristocracy  ;  then  from  the  aristoc- 
racy to  the  people.  Beyond  the  king  there  were 
always  the  nobles  to  act  as  a  last  resort,  and  con- 
serve the  prerogatives  of  authority  and  the  power 
of  the  laws.  Now,  however,  the  political  power 
and  the  throne  of  authority  have  been  lodged  with 
the  people  themselves,  and  the  last  reserves  are 
called  into  the  field.     In  a  popular  government 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.        249 

the  responsibility  of  the  state  is  laid  upon  the 
minds  and  consciences  of  the  people.  They  must 
face  all  the  problems  of  the  state ;  they  must  con- 
sider the  social  welfare  ;  they  must  frame  legis- 
lation, they  must  form  the  nation^s  conscience  ; 
in  a  word,  every  citizen  is  called  to  bear  the  burden  v 
and  heat  of  the  struggle  for  life  and  progress  in 
the  state. 

1.  The  Christian  citizen  takes  an  interest  in 
everything  that  concerns  the  welfare  and  progress 
of  the  state.  This  means  that  first  of  all  he  is  a 
patriot.  Much  of  what  passes  for  patriotism  is  ut- 
terly unworthy  that  high  name.  Pride  in  one^s 
country  with  many  passes  for  patriotism,  but  it  is 
not.  Dislike  of  a  foreign  power  with  many  is  in- 
terpreted as  patriotism,  but  it  is  not.  Strong 
attachment  to  one^s  political  party  with  a  large 
class  passes  for  real  patriotism,  but  partisanship  is 
not  patriotism.  It  is  all  too  common  for  the  partisan 
to  construe  the  welfare  of  the  nation  in  terms  of 
the  party's  platform.  Instead  of  this  they  should 
construe  their  party  in  terms  of  the  nation's  in- 
terests. Patriotism  is  that  deep,  strong  passion  for  / 
the  higher,  larger  interests  of  the  people.  Finely 
has  the  poet  sung  : 

"  Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead. 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 

This  is  my  own,  my  native  land, 
Whose  heart  hath  ne'er  within  him  burned, 
As  home  his  footsteps  he  hath  turned, 

From  wandering  on  a  foreign  strand  ?  " 


250  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

The  highest  life  that  ever  walked  this  earth  was 
intensely  patriotic.  It  is  true  that  he  came  as  the 
Saviour  of  men  and  his  mission  was  to  all  the  world  ; 
but  he  felt  the  spell  of  his  native  hills  :  he  loved  the 
history  of  his  people  and  shared  in  the  glories  of  the 
past.  The  bards  of  the  nation  sang  of  Jerusalem 
''beautiful  for  situation."  ''If  I  forget  thee,  O 
Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning.'^ 
Most  pathetic  is  the  Master's  lament  over  the  city 
of  his  love :  "0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  how  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even 
as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings, 
and  ye  would  not."  We  know  also  of  his  great 
disciple  Paul,  how  he  cried  :  "  I  could  wish  that  my- 
self were  accursed  from  Christ  for  my  brethren, 
my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh."  Patriotism 
^is  this  deep,  strong  passion  of  the  soul  in  behalf  of 
the  higher  interests  of  the  citizens.  Our  sympathies 
are  to  be  as  broad  as  the  world,  and  our  parish  is  to 
be  all  mankind  :  but  we  can  best  fulfill  our  world- 
wide mission  by  making  our  own  nation  all  that  it 
ought  to  be  and  all  that  it  may  be.  To  know  the 
past  of  one's  nation  ;  to  enter  into  the  present  need  ; 
to  live  and  work  for  her  future  ;  this  is  patriotism. 
2.  The  Christian  citizen  will  govern  his  civil 
duty  by  moral  principles.  This  is  one  of  the  things 
that  should  go  without  saying  ;  but  alas,  it  does 
not.  Moral  principles  have  been  more  or  less  ap- 
plied to  the  personal  and  family  life  of  men  ;  we 
have  come  to  expect  men  to  be  pure  in  life,  unselfish 
in  the  home,  self-sacrificing  and  without  guile.    But 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.        251 

somehow^  men  have  been  very  slow  and  very  reluc- 
tant to  api3ly  moral  principles  to  their  public  duties. 
Men,  who  would  be  shocked  at  the  thought  of  a 
lie  in  the  home  or  duplicity  in  the  church,  will  de- 
ceive in  politics  and  practice  all  sorts  of  guile. 
Christianity  teaches,  if  it  teaches  anything,  that 
for  all  our  acts  we  are  to  give  an  account  to  God. 
It  teaches  also  that  the  will  of  God  is  universal  in 
its  sweep  and  absolute  in  its  requirements,  a  law 
for  men,  for  homes,  for  churches,  for  political 
parties,  for  halls  of  legislation.  God  will  bring 
every  work  into  judgment,  whether  in  the  home  or 
in  the  state.  We  must  all  give  an  account  for  our 
political  deeds  and  misdeeds,  as  fully  as  for  our 
personal  and  family  affairs.  This  is  a  truth  so 
simple  and  elementary  that  one  is  almost  ashamed 
to  speak  of  it.  But  simple  as  it  is,  many  men, 
many  otherwise  good  men,  practically  deny  it  in 
conduct.  On  all  sides  this  truth  of  the  account- 
ability to  God  for  our  political  doings  is  practically 
denied  and  evaded.  The  man  in  oflSce  is  made  to 
feel  that  he  is  answerable  to  the  party  machine 
through  whose  agency  he  has  won  office.  Public 
office  is  a  public  trust,  for  which  the  holder  must 
give  an  account  to  God.  In  practical  affairs,  how- 
ever, public  office  is  regarded  as  a  party  gift,  to  be 
used  for  the  interests  and  advantages  of  the  party. 
The  man  who  acts  on  this  dictum  is  a  traitor  to 
his  trust ;  he  is  selling  his  soul  for  a  mess  of  party 
pottage  ;  he  is  recreant  to  every  high  trust  of  God 
or  man.     A  brilliant  United  States  senator  recently 


252  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

said  :  "  The  decalogue  and  the  sermon  on  the  mount 
have  nothing  to  do  with  a  political  campaign/^ 
He  explained  himself  afterwards  to  the  effect  that 
he  was  describing  things  as  they  are  and  not  as 
they  ought  to  be.  Certainly  the  man  who  believes 
in  God  must  set  his  face  like  flint  against  any  such 
methods.  In  the  family  and  in  the  church  it  is 
assumed  that  a  man  will  leave  his  own  personal  in- 
terests out  of  the  account,  and  will  act  with  a 
supreme  consideration  for  the  welfare  of  others ;  he 
will  live  in  these  spheres  as  one  who  must  give  ac- 
count. But  in  public  affairs  it  is  quietly  assumed 
that  the  man  in  office  will  make  the  most  of  that 
office  for  himself  and  for  his  party.  It  has  come 
to  this  in  many  communities,  that  a  man  is  hardly 
expected  to  be  interested  in  the  affairs  of  his  city 
or  state  unless  he  has  some  office  to  seek  or  some 
interest  to  subserve. 

A  man's  duty  in  the  state  is  just  as  sacred  and 
obligatory  as  his  duty  in  the  family  or  in  the  church. 
"Whatever  one  does  in  word  or  in  deed  is  to  be  done 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  Christian  citi- 
zen who  prays  :  '^  Father  in  heaven  :  thy  will  be 
done  on  earth,  as  in  heaven/'  is  so  to  speak, 
so  to  live,  so  to  vote,  that  his  life  and  word  and  bal- 
lot may  hasten  on  that  glad  day.  All  men  would 
say  that  it  is  a  prostitution  of  the  office  of  minister 
for  a  bad  man  to  stand  in  a  Christian  pulpit,  and 
to  make  that  office  a  means  of  selfish  gratification. 
The  world  has  come  to  insist  upon  this  :  that  the 
men  who  stand  in  Christian  pulpits  shall  be  above 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS,        253 

-reproach,  men  who  love  the  truth,  men  who  hate 
covetousness,  men  who  fear  God  and  seek  right- 
eouness.  But  it  is  just  as  wrong,  just  as  unfit, 
just  as  degrading,  to  the  idea  of  government  for 
a  bad,  selfish,  untruthful,  dishonest  man  to  hold 
office  in  the  state.  There  is  one  law,  only  one,  for 
every  man,  for  every  part  of  life,  for  every  institu- 
tion on  earth — the  holy  will  of  the  eternal  God. 
And  men  are  no  more  free  to  play  the  knave  and 
the  cheat  in  the  legislature  than  in  the  family 
or  in  the  church. 

3.  The  Christian  citizen  will  do  all  in  his  power 
to  secure  the  enactment  of  good  laws,  and  to  bring 
in  a  better  social  order.  One  great  purpose  of  all 
law  is  to  declare  what  is  socially  right  and  wrong. 
"What  law  allows  as  a  rule  the  conscience  of  man 
approves,  and  what  law  condemns  the  conscience 
of  the  people  does  not  commend.  One  great 
function  of  law  is  to  be  the  standard  of  social 
judgment  and  conduct.  The  legislation  of  a  na- 
tion is  at  once  the  expression  of  the  nation's  life 
and  the  determiner  of  the  nation's  morality. 
^'  Good  laws  elevate  men  ;  bad  laws,  if  persisted  in 
for  a  series  of  years,  will  degrade  any  society.  It 
is  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  to  live  under  wise 
laws  administered  by  an  upright  government,  and 
obeyed  and  carried  out  by  good  and  stanch  citi- 
zens ;  it  is  most  grateful  and  animating  to  a  gen- 
erous heart,  and  a  mind  which  cheerfully  assists 
in  the  promotion  of  the  general  good,  or  salutary 
institutions''    (Francis  Lieber  :  Political  Ethics). 


254  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

More  important  even  than  the  written  statute  is 
the  regard  for  right  and  truth  which  lies  back  of 
the  statute.  Deeper  than  all  questions  of  expe- 
diency is  the  great  question  of  what  is  morally 
right.  It  must  ever  be  remembered  that  right 
and  wrong  are  not  determined  by  the  mob  at  the 
foot  of  Sinai,  but  by  the  will  of  him  who  dwells  in 
the  mount.  Right  and  wrong,  it  cannot  be  too 
strongly  emphasized,  are  not  the  creations  of  the 
ballot-box  ;  justice  and  injustice  are  not  the  will 
of  the  majority.  To  read  that  law  whose  dwelling- 
place  is  none  other  than  the  bosom  of  the  living 
God  is  the  business  of  the  human  law  maker. 
The  real  law  maker  endeavors  to  express  and 
realize  in  human  legislation  the  moral  distinctions 
which  are  wrought  into  the  very  fabric  of  the 
universe.  The  only  argument  adducible  in  favor 
of  any  law  is  its  fairness,  its  justice,  its  righteous- 
ness ;  the  mere  question  of  expediency  and  popu- 
larity does  not  enter.  Only  by  the  honest  votes  of 
good  men  can  moral  considerations  obtain  sway  in 
political  affairs.  As  a  believer  in  God  and  in  his 
kingdom  the  Christian  citizen  must  endeavor  to 
enact  and  execute  laws  which  shall  be  the  tran- 
script of  th,e  writing  on  the  adamant  tables.  A 
law  that  is  simply  the  will  of  the  majority  speaks 
with  no  deep  tone  of  authority  and  commands 
little  reverence.  But  law  becomes  majestic,  when 
it  is  regarded  not  as  a  mere  conventional  arrange- 
ment adopted  by  a  majority  vote,  but  as  an  ex- 
pression of  the  will  and  righteousness   of  God. 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.         255 

The  believer  in  God  must  do  what  lies  in  his 
power  to  secure  the  dominance  of  moral  principles 
in  civil  affairs ;  he  must  seek  to  establish  and 
maintain  in  human  relations  the  justice  of  God ; 
the  life  and  law  of  that  kingdom  which  is  over  all 
are  to  color  all  his  thoughts,  determine  every  duty, 
and  be  supreme  in  every  part  of  life.  We  mean 
this  :  that  social  customs  are  to  be  inspired,  legis- 
lative halls  to  be  motived,  national  policies  to  be 
dictated,  the  nation^s  conscience  to  be  enlightened 
by  the  great  eternal  principles  of  the  kingdom  of 
God — righteousness,  and  peace  and  gladness  in  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

Every  man  who  sees  a  wrong  and  knows  the 
right  has  a  divine  calling  to  follow  the  right  and 
refuse  the  wrong.  The  world  is  full  of  men  who 
lament  the  evils  of  politics,  but  will  do  nothing  to 
improve  things.  The  true  citizen  must  do  more 
than  lament ;  he  must  go  to  work  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  political  life.  The  world  is  full  of  men, 
like  Nicodemus,  who  are  interested  in  everything 
that  makes  for  salvation  and  for  righteousness, 
but  they  do  all  their  talking  under  cover  of  the 
night ;  they  never  raise  their  voices  in  brave 
protest  and  ajopeal.  On  the  other  hand,  indis- 
criminate censure  and  scorn  do  little  good.  It  is 
comparatively  easy  to 

'*  Say  to  the  court,  it  glows 

And  shines  like  rotten  wood  ; 
Say  to  the  church,  it  shows 
What's  good,  but  does  no  good. 


256  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

If  church  and  court  reply, 
Then  give  them  both  the  lie." 

Tennyson  is  right : 

''  It  is  better  to  fight  for  the  good  than  to  rail  at  the  ill." 

The  man  who  believes  in  a  better  social  order  must 
show  his  faith  by  his  works ;  he  must  be  willing 
to  endure  some  of  the  strain  and  pain  and  struggle 
of  the  kingdom.  The  man  who  believes  in  the 
good  has  a  divine  and  urgent  calling  to  strive  for 
that  good.  The  man  who  sees  an  evil  without 
striving  against  it  has  denied  the  faith.  A  young 
man  long  ago  went  up  to  Jerusalem  once  upon  a 
time  to  attend  the  Passover.  He  was  an  unknown 
peasant  without  following,  without  authority 
from  any  man,  without  any  certificate  of  appoint- 
ment from  Caesar  or  Sanhedrin.  When  he  came 
to  the  temple  set  apart  for  the  worship  of  Jehovah, 
he  saw  it  profaned  with  all  kinds  of  unlawful 
things.  He  saw  men  buying  and  selling  right  in 
the  sacred  precincts  ;  he  saw  the  court  full  of  ani- 
mals and  crowded  with  tables  of  money  changers. 
ISTo  doubt  thousands  of  men  before  him  had  seen 
all  this  and  had  gone  home  lamenting  it ;  they  no 
doubt  had  declared  that  something  ought  to  be 
done  to  remedy  these  great  abuses.  But  it  was 
none  of  their  business,  was  it  ?  See  this  one,  how- 
ever, gathering  up  the  bits  of  rope  lying  around  ; 
see  him  knotting  them  into  a  whip  ;  see  his  flash- 
ing eye  and  stern  face  as  he  advances  on  the  crowd 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.         257 

of  temple  desecrators  ;  hear  his  ringing  words  : 
''  Take  these  things  hence/'  Jesus  saw  the  wrong 
and  he  knew  the  right,  and  he  felt  the  call  of  God 
within  his  sonl  to  oppose  the  wrong  and  to  uphold 
the  right.  Every  citizen  who  sees  a  wrong  has  a 
divine  call  to  rebuke  and  oppose  it.  Many  excuse 
themselves  on  the  ground  that  it  is  none  of  their 
business  ;  they  are  not  public  officials  ;  so  they  do 
nothing  but  criticise  the  public  officials  for  failing 
in  their  duty.  But  it  needs  to  be  remembered 
that  each  citizen  in  a  popular  government  is  a 
public  officer,  and  has  official  duties.  The  people 
are  the  kings,  the  authorities,  the  sovereigns. 

I  know  very  well  what  many  men  say  to  all  this  : 
They,  the  politicians  and  the  groundlings,  call  it 
<'  Sunday  School  Politips.''     Perhaps  it  is,  but  it 
is  none  the  worse  for  that.     At  any  rate  any  other 
politics  than  this  is  an  offense  against  the  state,  a 
sin  against  God,  a  treason  to  every  high  interest  of 
humanity.     The  groundling  politicians  will  object 
to  all  this  ;  they  will  tell  us  that  we  are  meddlers  ; 
they  will  have  much  to  say  about  the  dangers  of 
religious  interference  in  matters  of   state;   they 
will  tell  us  that  we  are  getting  out  of  our  sphere. 
But  the  man  who  believes  in  God  and  has  had  a 
vision  of   the  kingdom   knows    what  is  expected 
of  him  ;  he  knows  that  he  has   a   divine  calling 
to  go  out  into  the  world  and  seek  in  all  ways  to 
prepare  for  this  kingdom.     The  man  who  believes 
in    God   can  never  get  out  of  his  sphere.     The 
man  who  has  a  vision  of  the  New  City  with  its 
17 


258  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

streets  of  gold,  its  water  of  life,  its  peace,  its 
security,  its  righteousness,  that  city  into  which 
nothing  enters  that  defiles,  or  works  abomination, 
or  makes  a  lie,  sees  that  he  is  called  to  make  these 
cities  of  earth  more  heavenly,  more  righteous, 
more  peaceful  and  secure  ;  he  is  summoned  to  cast 
out  of  these  earthly  cities  everything  that  here  de- 
files, or  works  abomination,  or  makes  a  lie.  No 
man  has  any  reason  to  suppose  that  he  will  ever  be 
permitted  to  walk  the  streets  of  the  New  City  till 
he  has  done  something  to  make  the  streets  and 
lanes  of  his  native  city  purer  and  safer  and  more 
heavenly.  Of  course  all  this  means  effort  and  toil ; 
it  means  that  one  will  be  misunderstood  and 
abused  ;  that  one's  peace  will  often  be  disturbed 
and  one's  soul  will  often  be  shaken.  But,  then, 
what  is  one  here  for  ?  The  New  Citizen  seeks  a 
city,  a  city  that  has  foundations,  whose  maker  and 
builder  is  God.  He  seeks  a  city  here  below  that 
shall  be  the  copy  and  realization  of  the  city  above. 
He  believes  in  a  new  earth  in  which  dwelleth 
righteousness.  And  in  all  ways  open  to  him 
as  a  man,  as  a  citizen,  he  seeks  to  make  the  king- 
ship of  Jesus  Christ  real  in  human  affairs.  On 
the  walls  of  the  Signoria  Palace  in  Florence  is  an 
inscription,  placed  there  three  hundred  years  ago 
by  the  Mayor,  Niccolo  Capprivi.  It  records  how 
in  the  city  council,  and  afterwards  in  the  public 
assembly  of  the  citizens,  the  people  of  Florence 
solemnly  elected  Jesus  Christ  king  of  the  city  and 
pledged  themselves  to  be  loyal  to  him. 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  HIS  POLITICS.        259 

Jesus 
Christus  Rex  Glorias,  venit  in  pace  : 
Christus  vincit :  Christus  regnat : 

Christus  imperat : 
Christus,  ab  omni  malo  nos  defendat.* 

That  was  a  formal,  external  transaction  and 
availed  little.  The  mere  insertion  of  the  name  of 
God  in  the  Constitution,  the  mere  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  authority  over  the  state,  avails  little 
now.  His  is  a  reign  of  ideals  and  not  of  edicts  ;  his 
kingdom  is  not  a  matter  of  written  constitutions, 
majority  votes,  and  territorial  boundaries ;  it  is  a 
kingdom  of  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  gladness 
in  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  kingdoms  of  this  world 
become  the  kingdom  of  our  God  by  the  assimila- 
tion of  their  life  into  the  life  of  the  kingdom,  and 
the  transformation  of  their  institutions  into  the 
ideals  of  the  kingdom. 

*  Jesus 
Christ,  the  King  of  Glory,  comes  in  peace  % 
Christ  conquers,  Christ  reigns  : 

Christ  rules : 
Christ  from  every  evil  defend  us. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   PALACE    BEAUTIFUL. 


But  thou  Shalt  call  thy  walls  Salvation,  and  thy  gates  Praise.— 
The  Prophet  Isaiah. 

This  is  the  perfect  notion  of  a  Christian  church,  that  it  should  be 
a  sovereign  society,  operating  therefore  with  full  power  for  raising 
its  condition,  first  morally,  and  then  physically  ;  operating  through 
the  fullest  development  of  the  varied  faculties  and  qualities  of  its 
several  members,  and  keeping  up  continually,  as  the  bond  of  its 
union,  the  fellowship  of  all  its  people  with  one  another  through 
Christ,  and  their  communion  with  him  as  their  common  head. — 
Thomas  Arnold. 

The  spiritual  life,  as  the  realization  of  the  Christ-life,  is  not  an 
inward  regard,  cherishing  a  private  good,  but  an  outward  clasping 
the  showing  of  the  mastery  of  the  divine  life  in  us  by  our  ministra- 
tion especially  unto  the  least,  the  poorest,  the  most  unlovely.  If 
we  have  set  out  to  find  the  palace  of  our  King,  resolving  that  we 
will  enter  it  and  live  Avith  him,  dVen  as  the  most  abject  of  minions, 
we  are  not  in  the  right  way,  and  shall  never  see  the  palace  nor  find 
the  King.  He  is  serving  our  poor  brothers  in  wretched  hovels, 
numberless  and  near  at  hand,  and  if  we  will  join  him  in  this  service, 
we  shall  find  him  there,  and  every  hovel  will  seem  unto  us  his 
■palace.— God  in  His  World  :  An  Interpretation. 

Ok  liis  way  np  the  Hill  Difficulty  Bimyan's 
Pilgrim  sees  an  arbor  made  by  the  Lord  of  the 
Hill  for  the  refreshment  of  weary  travelers.  Here 
he  turns  in  to  rest,  and  here  he  loses  his  roll. 
After  a  time  some  one  awakens  him,  saying  :  ^'  Go 
to  the  ant,  thou  sluggard  :  consider  her  ways  and 
(260) 


THE  PALACE  BEAUTIFUL.  261 

be  wise/^  In  his  confusion  and  liaste  Pilgrim  for- 
gets his  roll,  and  goes  on  without  it.  Soon  with 
many  bitter  regrets  he  retraces  his  way  to  the 
arbor  seeking  his  precious  roll.  ''But  who  can 
tell  how  joyful  this  man  was  when  he  had  gotten 
his  roll  again  ?  For  this  roll  was  the  assurance  of 
his  life,  and  acceptance  at  the  desired  haven. ^^ 
Thus  he  went  on  his  way,  till  he  beheld  a  very 
stately  palace  before  him,  of  which  the  name  was 
Beautiful ;  and  it  stood  by  the  highway.  This 
Palace  Beautiful  Pilgrim  enters  and  is  lovingly 
welcomed  and  kindly  treated.  Here  he  is  greatly 
refreshed  by  a  bountiful  supper,  and  is  greatly 
edified  by  the  conversation  of  the  guests.  Two 
days  he  remains  here,  receiving  much  instruction 
concerning  the  Lord  and  the  worthy  doings  of  his 
servants  of  all  ages.  On  the  third  day  he  is  taken 
to  the  top  of  the  Palace,  where  he  is  given  a  view 
of  the  Delectable  Mountains  in  Immanuel's  Land. 
Before  starting  out  on  his  journey  the  residents  of 
the  Palace  take  him  into  the  armory  and  equip  him 
from  head  to  foot  with  all  the  armor  and  all  the 
weapons  of  a  soldier.  So  refreshed,  instructed 
and  armed  he  proceeds  on  his  way. 

Of  the  three  human  institutions  which  are  here 
by  divine  appointment,  two  are  more  or  less  in- 
voluntary ;  that  is,  membership  in  them  is  largely 
hereditary  and  compulsory.  As  Ave  did  not  choose 
our  family  relations  at  birth,  so  very  few  volun- 
tarily choose  their  civil  relations.  A  man  may 
pass  from  nation  to  nation,  but  he  must  go  out  of 


262  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

the  world  to  get  out  of  human  society.  The  third 
institution,  the  church,  is  no  less  essential  to 
man^s  largest  and  fullest  life  than  the  family  and 
the  state,  but  it  is  pre-eminently  a  voluntary 
society.  What  is  the  place  which  this  institution 
fills  in  the  development  of  life  ?  And  what  is  the 
claim  which  it  makes  upon  men  ?  These  are  real 
and  practical  questions,  and  a  right  answer  to 
them  may  be  helpful  to  the  New  Citizen. 

I.  The  Church  is  the  Coj^fessioi^-  op  the 
DiviN'E  Life  in^  Man. 

All  of  man^s  knowledge  comes  to  fruitage  in 
action.  No  man  can  know  God,  and  Jesus  Christ 
whom  he  has  sent,  w^ithout  being  greatly  affected 
by  that  knowledge.  For  the  Cliristian  conception 
of  God  is  that  of  an  essentially  moral  being,  and 
this  means  something  to  man.  The  man  who  sees 
that  God  is  holy  finds  in  that  fact  an  urgent  call  : 
"  Be  ye  also  holy."  The  new  spiritual  life  that 
one  gains  in  Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  possession  which 
the  individual  can  enjoy  ofi  in  a  corner  by  himself. 
To  believe  in  Christ  is  to  accept  his  life  as  the  law 
of  one^s  life,  and  to  give  up  the  will  to  his  master- 
ship. To  heed  his  teachings,  to  follow  him,  is  to 
enter  into  his  conception  of  life,  and  act  according 
to  his  will. 

A  man  who  has  entered  into  this  new  life  cannot 
be  hid.  The  moment  a  candle  is  lighted  it  begins 
to  radiate  the  light.  It  is  the  nature  of  light 
to  shine,  and  the  only  way  to  dim  the  radiance  is 


THE  PALACE  BEAUTIFUL.  263 

to  quench  the  candle.  Of  the  Lord  Jesus  we  read  : 
*'  He  could  not  be  hid."  Nor  can  any  man  in 
whom  he  dwells.  The  first  duty  of  every  man 
who  has  this  nQ^Y  life  is  to  acknowledge  and  con- 
fess it.  Jesus  made  much  of  this  duty  of  confes- 
sion :  ^'  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world."  ^'^Let  your 
light  so  shine  before  men  that  they  may  see  your 
good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven"  (Matt.  v.  14,  15).  '^If  any  man  would 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up 
his  cross  daily,  and  follow  me"  (Luke  ix.  23). 
'^Whosoever,  therefore,  shall  confess  me  before 
men,  him  will  I  confess  also  before  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven.  But  whosoever  shall  deny  me 
before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven"  (Matt.  x.  32,  33).  The 
moment  we  stop  to  consider  these  words,  that 
moment  we  see  how  reasonable  and  inevitable  they 
are.  The  man  who  refuses  to  confess  this  new 
spiritual  life  thereby  shows  one  of  two  things  : 
Either  he  does  not  possess  it ;  or  he  has  it  in  an 
unworthy  and  perverted  form.  The  man  who  is 
ashamed  of  Christ  either  does  not  know  Christ,  or 
he  is  unworthy  of  him.  The  man  who  really 
knows  Christ  can  no  more  be  ashamed  of  him, 
than  the  rose  can  be  ashamed  of  the  sunbeam 
which  gives  it  color. 

The  nature  of  the  spiritual  life  makes  this  con- 
fession of  it  necessary.  The  nature  of  the  American 
spirit  determines  the  form  of  the  American  citizen- 
ship.    The  man  who  has  entered  into  the  spirit  of 


264  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

the  American  nationality  is  drawn  to  the  American 
people  ;  he  confesses  his  allegiance  in  his  acts  ;  he 
accepts  the  claims  and  responsibility  of  his  new 
position.  The  possession  of  the  American  spirit, 
by  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  brings  a  man  into 
relations  with  other  persons  who  possess  the  same 
spirit.  His  citizenship  is  not  something  which  he 
can  hide  in  a  napkin  or  nnder  a  bushel.  That 
spirit,  that  citizenship,  finds  expression  in  a  cor- 
porate body  we  call  the  American  state.  In  the 
same  way  the  man  who  possesses  the  spiritual  life 
of  Christ  is,  by  the  nature  of  the  case,  brought 
into  certain  relations  with  all  other  persons  who 
have  the  same  life. 

A  man^s  faith  shows  itself  in  his  life.  No  man 
can  believe  in  the  sovereignty  of  Jesus  Christ  v/ith- 
out  seeking  to  put  away  all  known  sin.  The  spirit 
of  Christ  is  the  spirit  of  brotherhood,  of  loving 
fellowship,  of  kindly  service,  of  social  helpfulness. 
Horace  Bushnell  speaks  of  men  who  are  fawning 
about  the  cross  hoping  to  get  some  private  token 
of  grace,  without  suffering  any  experience,  making 
any  self-denial,  or  confessing  any  allegiance.  Such 
men  want  to  be  saved  by  a  fraud,  by  some  secret 
experience  which  makes  no  open  testimony  and 
costs  no  sacrifice.  Such  men  think  only  of  them- 
selves, and  have  no  regard  for  the  real  spirit  of  the 
Christian  life.  The  church  stands  before  men  as 
the  organized  and  visible  witness  to  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  truth.  It  is  a  witness  to  the  world  of  the 
divine   Fatherhood  and  the  human  brotherhood. 


THE  PALACE  BEAUTIFUL.  265 

The  cliiircli  is  the  realization  of  the  brotherhood 
of  man,  and  is  the  abiding  witness  to  this  truth  in 
the  face  of  all  the  rivalries  and  divisions  of  men. 
The  man  in  whom  the  new  life  dwells,  by  a  neces- 
sary attraction  is  drawn  toward  all  other  men  who 
possess  the  same  life.     He  acknowledges  them  as 
brothers  in  the  new  life  ;  he  identifies  himself  with 
them  in  their  efforts  and  prayers  ;  he  says  :  Your 
honor  shall  be  my  concern  ;  your  cause  shall  be 
my  cause  ;  your  Lord  shall  be  my  Lord.     In  this 
institution  or  society  we  call  the  church,  we  find 
the  corporate  and  visible  confession  of  this  new 
life  in  man.  ' '  We  cannot  see  the  difference  between 
right  and  wrong,  between  the  purity,  the  kind- 
ness, and  generosity,  and  love  of  Christ,  and  the 
uncleanness,  and  brutality,  and  cruelty,  and  hate- 
fulness  of  sin,  and  remain  utterly  unmoved.     We 
cannot  stand  in  the  midst  of  the  mighty,  world- 
historic  conflict,  where,  on  the  one  side,  multitudes 
of  men  and  women  are  being  betrayed,  and  mal- 
treated, and  plundered  by  the  sin  of  others  ;  and, 
on  the  other  side,  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  the  best  and  noblest  men  and  women  the  world 
has  produced,  are  banded  together  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  in  the  endeavor,  first,  to  banish  sin  from 
their  own  hearts  and  lives,  and  then  to  banish  it 
from  the  hearts  and  lives  of  others,  and  so  remove 
it  from  the  world  ;  we  cannot  stand  emotionless  be- 
tween these  contending  hosts"  (Hyde:  Outlines 
of  Social  Theology,  p.   118).     The  church,  alas, 
we  confess  has  not  always  been  true  to  its  calling ; 


266  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

there  have  been  times  when  the  churches  hardly 
lisped  the  first  syllable  of  the  divine  love  and  help- 
fulness ;  there  have  been  times  when,  as  Professor 
Bruce  sa3^s,  men  have  been  compelled  to  leave  the 
church  to  remain  Christians  ;  but  in  a  large  sense, 
the  churches  represent  Jesus  Christ,  his  truth,  his 
cause,  his  brotherhood,  his  love,  as  no  other  in- 
stitution or  society.  Perfect  or  imj^erfect  as  the 
churches  may  be,  they  are  the  organized  confession 
of  faith  in  Christ  ;  and  confession  of  faith  in  Christ 
means  also  identification  of  one's  self  with  the 
people  of  God.  The  man  who  thinks  :  ^'  I  am  an 
American  in  spirit, '^  but  never  identifies  himself 
with  the  American  people,  never  fulfills  one  act  of 
American  citizenship,  never  makes  the  problems 
and  hopes  of  the  American  people  his  problems 
and  hopes,  who,  in  the  hour  of  America's  need  and 
danger,  stands  aloof  and  raises  no  voice  in  her  be- 
half and  makes  no  sacrifice,  is  obviously  unworthy 
of  America,  and  must  be  put  down  as  a  man  of 
alien  spirit.  As  Horace  Bushnell  has  shown  :  He 
that  knows  God  will  confess  him.  He  says  :  '^  This 
matter  of  professing  Christ  appears  to  be  regarded 
by  many  as  a  kind  of  optional  duty.  Just  as  op- 
tional as  it  is  for  light  to  shine,  or  goodness  to  be 
good,  or  joy  to  sing,  or  gratitude  to  give  thanks, 
or  love  to  labor  and  sacrifice  for  its  ends.  No  ! 
my  friends,  there  is  no  option  here,  save  as  all 
duties  are  optional  and  eternity  hangs  on  the  op- 
tions we  make."  "We  know,"  says  the  beloved 
disciple,  "that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto 


THE  PA  LA  CE  BE  A  UTIFUL,  267 

life,  because  we  love  the  brethren  ;  he  that  loveth 
not  his  brother  abideth  in  death/^ 

II.    The   Church   is  the    Co-operatiok   of 

MeK    Ilf    BEHALF   OF   HOLIIs^ESS. 

Man  is  by  nature  a  social  being.  Sin  is  selfish- 
ness ;  it  is  the  undue  assertion  of  self.  Conversion 
is  the  turning  of  the  soul  to  God  ;  the  re-entrance 
of  man  into  the  true  and  divine  life  ;  it  is  the 
birth  of  the  soul  into  the  life  of  brotherhood. 
Xow,  for  the  first  time,  the  man  truly  and  rightly 
a2)preciates  those  ties  which  link  him  with  his  fel- 
lows. He  learns  how  dependent  he  is  upon  his 
fellows,  and  how  much  they  need  his  help.  In 
the  church  he  finds  the  organ  of  this  common  life, 
the  medium  of  this  mutual  service. 

Man  is  a  being  of  relationshij^s.  He  cannot 
come  to  perfection  through  isolation.  The  church 
is  a  body  fitly  framed  together  and  compacted 
through  every  joint  of  the  supply,  according  to 
the  working  in  due  measure  of  each  single  part,  and 
effects  the  increase  of  the  body  unto  the  building 
up  of  itself  in  love  (Eph.  iv.  16).  Through  fellow- 
ship man  enters  into  fullness  of  life.  No  man  can 
gain  the  fullness  of  truth  in  isolation.  The  per- 
fectly universal  man  has  not  yet  been  born.  Men 
have  different  temperaments,  and  different  apti- 
tudes ;  they  approach  the  truth  through  different 
avenues ;  the  truth  comes  to  them  through  dif- 
ferent channels.  Matthew  and  John  walked  and 
talked  with  the  same  Jesus ;  but  each  man  saw 


268  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

that  life  at  a  different  angle.  Each  man^s  picture 
of  the  Christ  is  true  to  reality,  but  their  books 
represent  different  angles  of  observation.  It  has 
been  pointed  out  that  there  were  three  schools  of 
thought  in  the  early  church  :  the  Johannean,  the 
Pauline,  the  Petrine.  All  careful  students  of  the 
Scriptures  will  admit  that  not  one  piece  of  writing 
can  be  spared  from  the  New  Testament.  All 
these  various  writers,  emphasizing  various  aspects 
of  Christ's  life  and  truth,  are  necessary  to  the  full- 
rounded  gospel  of  the  Son  of  man.  As  the  revela- 
tion has  been  given  by  divers  portions  and  in  divers 
manners,  so  it  has  become  known  in  divers  por- 
tions and  through  divers  personalities.  Scripture 
has  a  marvellous  self-evidencing,  self-interpreting 
power.  But  after  all,  the  man  who  reads  the 
Scriptures  alone  without  help  of  any  kind  from 
other  men  must  say  as  did  the  Ethiopian  :  ^'^How 
can  I  understand  these  words  unless  some  man 
guide  me  ? "  Through  association  men  gain  the 
full-rounded  view  of  gospel  truth.  He  is  a  foolish 
man  who  shapes  his  life  by  the  opinions  and  views 
of  other  men.  But  he  is  no  less  vain  and  pre- 
sumptuous who  scorns  and  ignores  the  views  and 
experiences  of  other  disciples. 

Again  :  through  fellowship  Christian  worship 
is  promoted  and  intensified.  Public  social  wor- 
ship is  quite  essential  to  the  very  existence  of 
religious  worship.  Every  religion  the  world  has 
known  has  had  its  public  gatherings  for  worship, 
sacrifice  and  prayer.     It  is  possible  for  a  man  to 


THE  PALACE  BEAUTIFUL.  269 

live  in  isolation  and  preserve  his  faith  in  God. 
But  the  divine  life,  kept  in  isolation  unsupported 
by  sympathy,  tends  to  languish  and  die.  Suppose 
all  the  churches  of  a  community  were  permanently 
closed  ;  suppose  that  each  man  resolved  to  with- 
draw into  himself  and  to  nourish  his  spiritual  life 
in  isolation.  One  does  not  need  to  be  told  what 
the  result  would  be  ;  the  almost  total  drying  up  of 
religion  in  that  community,  a  waning  conscious- 
ness of  God  and  a  loosening  bond  of  brotherhood. 
As  the  reservoir  that  supplies  the  city  with  water 
becomes  dry  when  all  the  supply  springs  are  cut  off  ; 
so  the  spiritual  life  of  the  community  languishes 
when  the  springs  of  fellowship  are  dried.  All 
churches  are  no  doubt  very  imperfect  institutions, 
feebly,  haltingly  realizing  the  ideal  of  the  Founder  ; 
but  imperfect  as  they  are,  they  voice  the  universal 
longings  of  the  human  heart,  they  become  a 
medium  for  the  expression  of  religions  worship, 
they  nourish  in  the  community  the  consciousness 
of  God. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  promise  of  Christ^s 
personal  presence  with  his  people  finds  its  first 
fulfillment  in  the  social  gathering.  Where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  his  name,  there  he 
promises  to  be  present.  It  is  worthy  of  note  also 
that  the  Holy  Spirit,  God^s  best  gift,  comes  in  full- 
ness and  power  upon  the  gathering  of  disciples. 
It  was  when  they  were  all  together,  with  one  ac- 
cord, in  one  place,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  poured 
out  upon  them.     From  the  New  Testament  record 


270  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

one  is  warranted  in  saying  that  no  man  in  isola- 
tion can  receive  the  Holy  Spirit  in  fullness.  The 
Holy  Spirit  is  a  social  spirit.  He  comes  to  men 
when  heart  is  right  with  heart  ;  he  binds  men 
together  in  loving  fellowship  ;  he  moves  men  to 
serve  one  another  in  the  spirit  of  Christ  Jesus. 
The  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  Pentecost  trans- 
formed that  company  of  disciples  into  a  Christian 
church,  making  them  conscious  now  of  their  life 
in  Christ  and  of  their  fellowship  with  one  another. 
"  In  one  Spirit  were  we  all  baptized  into  one  body  ^' 
(1  Cor.  xii.  13).  The  baptism  of  water  marks  the 
formal  introduction  of  the  believer  into  the  church  ; 
but  this  is  the  symbol,  not  the  substance  (Gordon  : 
The  Ministry  of  the  Spirit,  p.  55).  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  realization  of  the  life  of  God  in  the 
life  of  humanity.  He  comes  to  bind  God  and  men 
together  in  a  solidarity  of  life  and  fellowship. 
And  what  we  call  the  church  is  this  social  realiza- 
tion of  the  life  of  God  in  the  life  of  humanity. 

This  comparison  of  the  church  to  a  body  is 
more  than  a  happy  comparison  ;  it  expresses  a 
deep  and  vital  fact.  The  member  exists  for  the 
sake  of  the  body,  and  he  finds  his  fullest  life 
through  the  body.  We  are  but  members,  and 
shall  never  attain  to  the  dignity  of  being  a  com- 
plete body  in  ourselves.  We  find  our  life  as  we 
lose  our  life  in  the  life  of  the  body.  A  man  says  : 
''  I  can  read  a  better  sermon  at  home  than  I  can 
hear  in  the  church  ;  why  then  should  I  go  to  the 
church  gathering  ? ''    His  contention  is  just  this 


THE  PALACE  BEAUTIFUL.  271 

far  :  he  can  read  a  better  sermon  than  he  can  hear  : 


but  hearing  good  sermons  is  only  a  part  of  the 
church  worship.  The  quickening  of  soul  through 
fellowship  ;  the  answer  of  heart  to  heart  in  praj^er, 
the  uplift  of  soul  through  united  song  and  praise, 
these  are  also  necessary  elements  of  the  religious 
life.  Another  man  says :  '^1  can  best  commune 
with  the  eternal  Spirit  out  in  the  fields  or  in  the 
woods.  I  find  more  uplift  of  soul,  more  quicken- 
ing of  faith  there  than  within  the  narrow  walls  of 
the  meeting-house.'^  Here  and  there  may  be  a 
soul,  half  mystic,  half  philosopher,  who  realizes 
these  words.  But  the  average  man  or  woman  finds 
most  uplift,  most  inspiration,  most  help  in  the 
social  gathering  of  kindred  souls.  Those  who 
forsake  the  assembling  of  themselves  together 
will,  as  a  rule,  find  great  difficulty  in  maintaining 
their  spiritual  life.  The  testimony  on  this  point 
is  familiar  to  all.  Men  need  the  feel  of  belonging 
to  a  great  body  ;  Paul's  spirit  fainted  within  him 
as  he  waited  at  Athens  alone. 

And  once  more,  the  church  is  the  medium  of 
mutual  service  and  sacrifice.  The  church  is  a 
fellowship  in  which  the  strong  and  the  weak  are 
brought  together  in  brotherly  relations.  It  is  a 
confession  of  mutual  dependencies  and  of  mutual 
needs.  The  strong  assume  the  obligation  to  help 
the  weak  and  to  bear  their  burdens.  In  every 
church  are  to  be  found  disciples  at  all  grades  of  at- 
tainment in  the  divine  life.  There  are  to  be  found 
in  every  church  the  strong  and   good,  the  pure. 


272  TEE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

the  godly,  the  unselfish,  disciples  of  mature  years 
and  manly  powers.  And  there  are  to  be  found 
also  the  weak,  the  laggards,  the  lapsed,  the  igno- 
rant, the  babes  and  nurslings  of  the  family.  By 
the  nature  of  the  fellowship  the  combined  forces 
that  make  for  good  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  back- 
ward and  the  weak.  The  good  and  strong  are  to 
buttress  and  help  the  laggard  and  fallen.  The 
whole  helpfulness  and  philanthropy  of  Jesus  Christ 
represented  in  that  gathering  are  to  be  distributed 
over  the  whole  company.  And  the  resources  of 
the  saints  are  to  be  put  to  the  widest  use.  Those 
who  are  strong  and  instructed  must  never  say  : 
We  must  part  company  with  these  laggards  and 
weaklings  ;  we  will  make  a  church  for  ourselves, 
and  will  allow  them  to  exercise  the  same  privilege 
in  some  other  association.  To  do  that  is  to  deny 
utterly  the  Christ  spirit,  and  is  to  make  the  church 
into  a  social  club  or  a  company  of  self-righteous 
Pharisees.  ^'  We  then  that  are  strong  ought  to 
bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  not  to  please 
ourselves."  To  bear  one  another^s  burdens  is  to 
fulfill  the  law  of  Christ.  The  fact  is,  however, 
there  is  no  man  who  is  wholly  complete  in  himself. 
Each  man  needs  to  be  buttressed  at  some  point  by 
his  fellows  ;  each  man  stands  in  need  of  some 
brother's  grace  and  strength.  The  church  is  a 
household  of  faith,  a  family  of  children  ;  but  it  is 
not  a  household  of  elder  brothers  to  be  feasted  and 
robed  and  ringed  ;  rather  it  is  a  household  which 
imposes  upon  each  member  the  task  of  welcoming 


THE  PALACE  BEAUTIFUL.  273 

home  returning  brothers  with  love  and  joy.  In 
every  church  worthy  of  the  name  each  member 
watches  over  his  brother  members,  and  is  watched 
over  by  them  in  turn.  Each  man  looks  not  alone 
on  the  things  of  self,  but  each  man  also  on  the 
things  of  others.  Each  man  bears  the  burdens  of 
others  and  so  fulfills  the  law  of  Christ.  The 
church  is  not  a  clique  of  the  select,  not  a  social 
club  ;  but  a  home  of  loving  ministry,  of  redemp- 
tive healings,  of  mutual  service  and  sacrifice. 

III.  The  Chukch  is  the  Okgakized  Service 
of  those  who  possess  the  spiritual  life  i:^- 
Christ, 

For  the  sake  of  the  highest  efficiency  in  service 
men  need  some  such  organisation  as  the  church. 
No  man's  life  is  so  efficient  as  when  it  is  joined  to 
another  life  toward  a  common  end.  Did  you  ever 
go  down  into  the  cellar  in  the  night  to  get  some 
coal  or  to  find  an  apple  ?  You  struck  a  match, 
but  alas,  after  flickering  a  moment  it  went  out. 
You  did  not  throw  away  that  most  worthless  thing, 
a  burned  match  stick.  No,  you  struck  the  other 
match  and  laid  the  burned  stick  alongside  it,  and 
thus  had  light  for  your  purpose.  In  God's  arith- 
metic twice  one  equals  ten.  One  man  in  whom 
the  Spirit  dwells  shall  chase  a  thousand,  and  two 
shall  put  ten  thousand  to  flight.  Two  men  work- 
ing together  can  accomplish  far  more  than  the 
same  two  men  working  separately.  The  difference 
in  efficiency  and  power  between  a  mob  and  an  army 
i8 


274  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

is  uot  in  numbers  nor  in  courage,  but  in  organi- 
zation. In  war-times  a  man^s  heart  may  be  full 
of  patriotism,  he  may  shoulder  a  musket  and  go 
forth  against  the  enemy.  But  his  patriotism  and 
zeal  avail  little  ;  he  may  harass  the  enemy  but  he 
wins  no  battles,  and  ends  no  war.  One  hundred 
regular  soldiers  will  put  to  rout  a  thousand  unor- 
ganized Indians,  not  because  they  are  braver  or 
better  armed,  but  because  they  are  organized. 

The  church  is  the  body  of  Christ  set  here  to 
serve  and  save  the  world.  In  the  days  of  his  flesh 
the  Lord  Jesus  gave  himself  in  all  that  he  was 
and  in  all  that  he  had  for  men.  His  feet  took 
him  on  errands  of  mercy  ;  his  hands  were  em- 
ployed in  touching  and  healing  the  sick  ;  his  ears 
were  open  to  the  cries  of  need ;  his  lips  spoke 
words  of  cheer  and  hope  ;  his  eyes  searched  out 
the  lost  and  his  heart  breathed  out  its  prayer  for 
men.  Those  who  possess  the  life  of  Christ  are 
members  of  his  body  to  be  used  as  his  directing 
spirit  appoints.  Such  persons  are  to  be  the  eyes 
of  Christ,  his  hands,  his  feet,  his  ears,  his  lips, 
his  heart.  The  Christian  church  is  Christ  con- 
tinued, Christ  carried  along,  and  made  permanent 
and  visible  and  active  among  men.  The  church 
is  Christian  no  farther  than  it  is  the  organized  and 
continuous  sacrifice  and  passion  of  Christ.  Each 
man  has  his  own  peculiar  talent ;  the  work  for 
one  man  may  not  be  the  work  for  another.  "  God 
hath  set  some  in  the  church,  first  apostles, 
Eecondly  prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  then  miracles. 


THE  PALACE  BEAUTIFUL.  275 

then  gifts  of  healings,  helps,  governments,  divers 
kinds  of  tongues  "  (1  Cor.  xii.  28,  E.  V.).    There  is 
work  in  the  kingdom  of  God  of  all  kinds,  at  all 
levels,  for  all  sorts  of  talent.    In  the  economy  of  the 
kingdom  the  work  of  the  hand  may  be  quite  as 
necessary  as  that  of  the  eye  or  tongue.     The  physi- 
cian who  applies  nature's  remedies  and  heals  the 
sick  is  doing  the  work  of  the  kingdom  quite  as  truly 
as  the  evangelist  or  the  prophet.     The  legislator 
who  is  working  for  better  laws  may  be  as  truly  a 
worker  in  the  kingdom  as  the  temperance  advocate 
who  seeks  to  save  the  drunkard.     It  is  a  Christly 
thing  to  minister  to  the  half-dead  traveler  on  the 
Jericho  road,  but  it  is  quite  as  necessary  that  one 
seeks  to  break  up  that  nest  of  robbers  infesting  that 
road.    To  nurse  the  fever-stricken  man  is  a  divine 
service  ;  but  is  it  any  less  divine  to  drain  the  quag- 
mire in  which  the  fever  is  bred  ?   Is  it  not  as  Christ- 
ly a  thing  to   remove  causes  as  to  cure  results  ? 
The  church,  the  body  of  Christ,  stands  before  the 
world  as  the  living  embodiment  of  his  whole  phi- 
lanthropy  and  helpfulness.     In  the  accomplish- 
ment of  its  work  there  is  use  for  all  sorts  of  talent 
and  powers.     There  is  no  nseless  member  in  the 
body  of  Christ. 

The  church  is  not  an  end  in  itself ;  it  has  just 
one  thing  to  do  in  this  world  ;  to  be  the  continued 
incarnation  of  the  Christ  life  ;  to  glorify  God  and 
to  seek  his  kingdom.  The  church  is  here  to  be 
the  organ  of  the  everlasting  love  of  Christ  for 
men,  the  agency  for  the  promotion  of  his  kingdom 


276  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

among  men.  We  know  how  overwhelming  is  the 
power  of  the  things  that  are  outward  and  visible  ; 
how  we  become  engrossed  with  material  things ; 
how  the  cares  of  this  world  and  the  deceitfulness 
of  riches  tend  to  enter  in  and  choke  the  word. 
The  church  is  a  perpetual  witness  to  the  unseen 
and  the  eternal,  and  keeps  alive  in  men  the  con- 
sciousness that  they  belong  to  another  order.  By 
the  solemn  assemblies  for  praise  and  prayer  men 
are  reminded  of  their  dependence  one  upon  an- 
other ;  and  by  their  brotherly  fellowship  the  world 
is  given  a  lesson  in  the  meaning  of  brotherly  love. 
By  the  instruction  imparted  from  the  pulpit,  in 
the  Sunday-school,  and  in  other  ways,  the  right- 
eous will  of  God  is  brought  home  to  men^s  con- 
sciences and  hearts.  There  is  set  up  before  the 
world  another  standard  than  the  conventional  and 
popular  one  ;  there  is  held  up  the  standard  of 
eternity,  and  men  are  summoned  to  test  their 
lives  by  the  requirements  of  the  great  white  throne. 
By  the  ordinances  of  the  church  the  world  is  given 
a  visible  illustration  of  the  great  realities  of  the 
Christian  gospel.  Whatever  view  may  be  held  re- 
garding bajDtism,  one  meaning  cannot  be  over- 
looked. It  is  a  pledge  to  the  world  that  the  per- 
son has  entered  into  the  life  of  Christ,  and  be- 
longs to  God.  The  apostle  connects  this  splendid 
truth  with  baptism  :  '^  For  as  many  of  you  as  have 
been  baptized  into  Christ,  have  put  on  Christ. 
There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither 
bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor  female  : 


THE  PALACE  BE  A  UTIFUL.  277 

for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus  "  (Gal.  iii.  28). 
The  other  ordinance,  the  Lord^s  Supper,  bears 
witness  to  a  truth  no  less  sj)lendid  and  significant. 
And  this  truth  is  well  expressed  in  the  quaint 
words  of  Archbishop  Cranmer  :  ''  For  like  as 
bread  is  made  of  a  great  number  of  grains  of  corn, 
ground,  broken,  and  so  joined  together,  that 
thereof  is  made  one  loaf  ;  and  an  infinite  number 
of  grapes  be  pressed  together  in  one  vessel,  and 
thereof  is  made  wine  ;  likewise  is  the  whole  mul- 
titude of  true  Christian  people  spiritually  joined, 
first  to  Christ,  and  then  among  themselves,  to- 
gether, in  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  Holy  Spirit, 
one  knot  and  bond."*'  On  its  man  ward  side  this 
ordinance  witnesses  forever  to  the  reality  of  the 
bond  of  brotherhood  and  love  as  the  bond  of  the 
new  society.  It  also  erects  a  standard  for  the 
daily  life  and  the  common  task,  reminding  us  that 
life  belongs  to  God  and  that  we  are  to  do  all  our 
eating  and  drinking  in  remembrance  of  Christ. 
No  one  can  measure  the  power  and  influence  of 
the  church  in  the  world.  Says  a  strong  writer  : 
'^  Important  as  the  Sabbath  is  as  a  means  of  rest 
and  grace,  a  chief  element  of  that  importance  is 
that  it  periodically  invites  the  soul  to  vacate  the 
sphere  of  worldly  concerns  and  distractions,  and 
washing  from  herself  the  accumulated  grime  of 
the  week,  enter  the  calm,  pure,  bracing  air  of  the 
sanctuary,  where  she  shall  hear  no  sounds  save 
such  as  echo  the  angelic.  The  chaste  and  conse- 
crated temple,  the  gathered  multitude,  the  devout 


278  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

posture,  the  humble  invocation,  the  solemn  Scrip- 
tural reading,  the  reverent  adoration,  the  hearty 
thanksgiving,  the  lowly  confession,  the  tender 
penitence,  the  fervent  supplication,  the  glowing 
consecration,  the  large-hearted  intercession,  the 
ardent  panting  after  God,  the  peaceful  commun- 
ion with  him,  the  uplifting  sermon,  the  melody 
of  hymn  and  chant,  of  voice  and  organ,  the  solemn 
baptismal  vow,  the  blissful  banquet  of  the  Holy 
Communion — these  are  the  stately  buttresses  and 
graceful  shafts  on  which  Christ  rests  the  temple 
of  his  truth  and  grace,  and  from  which  his  right- 
eousness goeth  forth  as  brightness,  and  his  salva- 
tion as  a  lamp  that  burneth "  (George  Dana 
Boardman  :  Studies  in  the  Mountain  Instruction, 
p.  71). 

Under  the  terms  of  three  striking  figures  the 
Master  has  set  forth  the  mission  of  his  church  in 
the  world.  The  disciples  are  as  light  in  the 
world,  bearing  witness  for  the  truth,  enlightening 
the  conscience  of  men,  making  men  know  what  is 
that  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God. 
They  are  the  salt  of  the  earth,  purifying,  sweeten- 
ing, preserving  the  life  of  mankind  from  decay 
and  death,  and  making  it  meet  for  the  Master's 
use.  They  are  like  the  leaven  hidden  in  the  meal, 
to  transform  and  change  it,  and  make  it  fit  for  the 
Master's  table.  The  church  is  not  a  mutual  bene- 
fit society,  though  it  benefits  in  incalculable  ways 
its  members.  It  is  not  a  social  club,  though  its 
social  life  is  most  marked.     Over  and  above  all 


THE  PALACE  BEAUTIFUL.  279 

this,  it  is  a  society  intent  on  the  one  object  of 
purifying,  sweetening,  transforming,  saving,  the 
entire  life  of  the  world.  "  The  true  and  grand 
idea  of  a  church,"  said  Thomas  Arnold,  '^'^is  a 
society  for  making  men  like  Christ,  earth  like 
heaven,  and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  the  king- 
dom of  our  God." 

The  light  is  to  illuminate  and  reveal  ;  the  salt  is 
to  preserve  and  sweeten  something  ;  the  leaven  is 
to  leaven  and  change  and  transform  the  mass  of 
meal.  The  meeting-house  of  the  church  is  the 
class-room  of  the  King's  children,  the  place  where 
they  are  instructed  in  the  will  and  way  of  God. 
That  meeting-house  is  the  mountain-top  where 
visions  of  life  are  shown  the  builders  of  God's 
tabernacle  among  men.  It  is  the  drill-room  of  the 
King's  soldiers,  where  they  meet  and  plan  cam- 
paigns. It  is  the  upper  room  where  the  risen 
Christ  comes  to  breathe  upon  his  disciples  and  to 
commission  them  for  their  work.  It  is  the  family 
room  where  the  Father's  children  meet  to  talk  over 
their  common  hopes,  and  to  pray  and  plan  how  to 
help  and  save  their  wayward  brothers.  In  a  word, 
these  instructed,  inspired,  trained,  commissioned 
disciples,  when  the  service  in  the  meeting-house  is 
over,  arise  and  go  out  to  serve  their  fellows  in 
every  way  possible,  and  to  seek  the  kingdom  in 
every  way  open.  Jesus  Christ  came  not  to  be 
ministered  unto  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his 
life  a  ransom  for  many.  The  church  is  true  to  its 
Lord  in  so  far  as  it  fulfills  this  same  loving  min- 


280  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

istry.  Its  one  only  business  in  the  world  is  to 
bring  the  world  to  Jesus  Christ.  Spurgeon  has 
said  :  ^'  A  church  is  a  soul-saving  community,  or 
it  is  nothing."  The  church  that  ceases  to  be  mis- 
sionary has  ceased  to  be  Christian.  This  word 
"  missionary  "  is  as  wide  as  the  human  race  and  as 
deep  as  human  need.  In  the  program  of  the  king- 
dom there  are  no  home  missions,  no  foreign  mis- 
sions. The  disciples  are  sent  into  the  world  to 
minister  to  every  creature  who  needs  their  help 
and  whom  they  can  reach.  Neighborhood  is  not 
a  matter  of  distance  but  of  need  and  ability.  The 
church  is  Christ^s  representative  in  the  world,  the 
pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,  the  channel  and 
medium  of  his  saving  grace  to  a  lost  world.  Some 
one  has  put  this  truth  in  the  following  form. 
Jesus  Christ,  at  his  ascension  after  his  passion  and 
resurrection,  is  greeted  at  the  gate  of  heaven  as  a 
glorious  victor.  Cherubim  cry:  ^'Lift  up  your 
heads,  0  ye  gates  ;  even  lift  them  up,  ye  everlast- 
ing doors,  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in.-*^ 
And  seraphim  chant  in  antiphone  :  "  Who  is  this 
King  of  glory  ? "  And  all  heaven  joins  in  the 
hallelujah  chorus:  ''The  Lord  who  all  his  foes 
overcame."  Finally,  Gabriel  inquires  of  the  Lord 
of  glory  in  whose  care  he  has  left  his  work  on 
earth.  And  the  King  replies  :  ''With  Peter  and 
the  other  disciples."  "But  suppose  these  men 
should  fail  to  do  this  work  ?"  And  the  King 
replied  :  "  I  have  made  no  other  arrangements." 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

GAIiq-ING   THE   CROWN". 

He  that  is  faithful  in  a  very  little  is  faithful  also  in  much  :  and  he 
that  is  unrighteous  in  a  very  little  is  unrighteous  also  in  much.— 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  earth  is  no  sojourn  of  expiation.  It  is  the  home  wherein  we 
are  to  strive  towards  the  realization  of  that  ideal  of  the  true  and 
just,  of  which  each  man  has  in  his  own  soul  the  germ.  It  is  the 
ladder  towards  that  condition  of  perfection  which  we  can  only 
reach  by  glorifying  God  in  humanity,  through  our  own  works,  and 
by  consecrating  ourselves  to  realize  in  action  all  that  we  may  be  of 
his  design.— Joseph  Mazziki. 

The  whole  substance  of  religion  was  faith,  hope  and  love  ;  by  the 
practice  of  which  we  become  united  to  the  will  of  God  :  that  all  be- 
side is  indifferent,  and  to  be  used  as  a  means  that  we  may  arrive  at 
our  end,  and  be  swallowed  up  therein,  by  faith  and  love. 

That  all  things  are  possible  to  him  who  believes— that  they  are 
less  difficult  to  him  who  hopes—  that  they  are  more  easy  to  him 
who  loves,  and  still  more  easy  to  him  who  perseveres  in  the  practice 
of  these  three.— Brother  Lawrence. 

■\\Tien  wealth  is  lost,  nothing  is  lost ; 
When  health  is  lost,  something  is  lost ; 
When  character  is  lost,  all  is  lost. 

— Motto  on  the  Wall  of  a  German  School. 

OinTE  day  at  sea  a  man  in  a  little  open  boat  was 
overtaken  by  a  storm,  and  his  vessel  was  wrecked  ; 
hungry,  cold,  and  naked  he  was  cast  upon  an  island. 
Soon  he  saw  a  crowd  of  natives  coming  up  in 
high  glee.     "  I  have  escaped  the  sea/^  thought 

(281) 


282  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

the  man,  ''  only  to  die  a  miserable  death  on  land/' 
But  no,  the  natives  picked  him  up  kindly,  carried 
him  to  their  city,  clothed  him,  placed  a  crown  on 
his  head,  and  seated  him  on  a  throne.  Then  they 
stood  around  in  respectful  silence  awaiting  his 
orders.  *^This,'^  thought  the  man,  ^'^  is  but  the 
insane  ceremony  that  precedes  my  destruction." 
But  no  harm  befell  him,  and  he  found  that  these 
men  were  ready  to  serve  his  every  wish.  Finally, 
he  inquired  of  an  old  man  the  meaning  of  all  this. 
The  old  man  gave  this  explanation  :  ^'  You  are 
our  king,  and  we  are  here  to  fulfill  your  orders  to 
the  last  letter."  And  so  it  proved  :  the  natives 
were  ready  to  carry  out  his  commands  and  to  do 
his  orders.  Several  months  went  by  ;  one  day  the 
king  chanced  to  meet  the  old  man  once  more,  and 
now  he  asked  a  full  explanation  of  this  strange  con- 
dition. ^' There  is  nothing  strange  about  it ;  yon 
are  our  king ;  each  year  a  man  is  thrown  upon  our 
coast  and  we  pick  him  up  and  do  with  him  as  we 
have  done  with  you."  ^'  But,"  inquired  the  man, 
^'  what  has  become  of  your  late  king  ?  "  The  old 
man  went  on  :  "  As  we  find  him  naked,  so  at  the 
end  of  the  year  we  strip  him  of  his  royal  apparel, 
put  him  in  a  boat  and  send  him  away  to  an  island 
beyond  the  horizon,  where  we  suppose  he  perishes." 
''  And  will  you  do  so  with  me  ?"  asked  the  king. 
"Yes." 

When  the  king  heard  this  he  at  first  determined 
to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  time  eating  and 
drinking.      But  soon  wiser  and  better   thoughts 


GAINING  THE  CROWN.  283 

came.  Once  more  he  sought  out  the  old  man. 
*'  Am  I  king  now  ?  "  "  Yes/'  answered  the  old 
man.  "  And  can  I  do  as  I  will  ?  "  "  Absolutely," 
replied  the  old  teacher.  "  Then,"  said  the  king, 
'^  I  will  spend  the  remainder  of  my  time  in  fitting 
up  that  desolate  island  beyond  the  horizon."  So 
he  began  transporting  to  it  buildings,  food,  cloth- 
ing, everything  that  he  would  need.  The  year 
ran  out ;  the  king  was  dethroned,  stripped  of  his 
royal  trappings,  placed  in  a  boat,  and  sent  away  to 
that  island  beyond.  But  there  he  found  a  wel- 
come and  a  home,  the  welcome  and  a  home  which 
he  himself  had  provided. 

This  parable,  whose  authorship  is  unknown, 
best  lets  us  into  the  heart  of  this  concluding  chap- 
ter of  our  study.  We  are  here  as  kings,  crowned 
and  placed  over  the  things  of  God's  hand.  Soon  we 
shall  be  stripped  of  these  royal  trappings  and  shall 
go  hence.  Here  arises  the  problem  of  man's  life  : 
to  see  the  high  possibilities  of  present  opportu- 
nities ;  to  convert  material  resources  into  spiritual 
potencies ;  and  to  take  with  him  into  the  unseen 
the  full  results  and  equivalents  of  his  life  on  earth. 

I.  The  Maki^^g  of  Chakacter  is  the  Meak- 
IKG  OF  Life. 

James  Martineau  has  said  that  there  are  three 
kinds  of  human  distinction  :  some  men  are  emi- 
nent for  what  they  j^ossess  ;  some  for  what  they 
achieve;  others  for  what  they  are.  '^Having, 
Doing,  and  Being,  constitute  the  three  great  dis- 


284  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

tinctions  of  mankind,  and  the  three  functions  of 
their  life."  This  most  luminous  writer  then  goes 
on  to  analyze  somewhat  more  in  detail  these  three 
kinds  of  distinction.  In  every  community  there 
are  many  people  who  derive  their  chief  distinction 
from  what  they  have  ;  they  are  always  spoken  of 
in  terms  of  revenue.  In  themselves,  detached 
from  their  possessions,  they  would  be  neither  emi- 
nent nor  winning.  When  these  men  die,  the 
mammon  image  cannot  be  removed,  and  it  is  the 
fate  of  the  money  and  not  of  the  man  of  which 
men  are  most  apt  to  think.  Without  in  any  way 
ignoring  or  belittling  the  proper  acquisition  of 
wealth,  it  must  be  evident  to  all  that  having  is  not 
the  great  distinction  in  life.  Of  the  men  who 
have  lived  to  accumulate  and  to  enjoy,  history  is 
for  the  most  part  silent.  History,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  the  record  rather  of  what  man  has  at- 
tempted and  achieved,  and  the  record  is  a  long 
and  glorious  one,  of  ease  surrendered  for  conflict, 
of  labor  for  the  welfare  of  others,  of  wealth  sacri- 
ficed for  liberty.  There  on  history's  pages  shine 
the  names  of  the  men  who  have  broken  the  tents 
of  ease  and  have  advanced  to  the  dangers  of  lonely 
enterprise  and  to  conflict  with  entrenched  wrong  ; 
men  who  have  thrown  reputation  and  fortune  and 
life  into  the  issue,  and  have  toiled  and  spent  them- 
selves in  the  campaign  for  justice  and  truth  and 
liberty.  We  may  know  regret  over  the  grave  of 
the  Epicurean,  but  we  weep  over  the  grave  of  the 
hero. 


GAINING  THE  CBOWN,  285 

*'  But  there  is  a  life  higher  than  either  of  these. 
The  saintly  is  beyond  the  heroic.  To  get  good  is 
animal  :  to  do  good  is  human  :  to  be  good  is 
divine"  (''^Endeavors  after  the  Christian  Life"). 
That  is  to  say,  character  is  finer,  higher,  worthier 
than  wealth  or  honor.  Character  is  as  much  finer 
than  either  possessions  or  achievements  as  the  man 
is  higher  than  anything  he  possesses  or  does.  The 
man  is  the  chief  thing. 

"  The  rank  is  but  the  guinea-stamp, 
The  man's  the  gowd  for  a'  that." 

And  character  is  something  which  exists  entirely 
independent  of  the  accessories  and  accidents  of 
life.  A  man  may  wear  a  crown  of  gold  and  be 
called  King  Agrippa,  and  possess  no  character 
worthy  of  any  honor.  A  man  may  be  a  pale  and 
wasted  prisoner,  with  manacled  hands,  and  faded 
cloak,  and  may  be  known  as  Paul  the  prisoner ; 
but  he  may  have  a  character  that  shines  resplen- 
dent as  the  stars.  Here  comes  out  that  well-known 
distinction  between  reputation  and  character. 
Eeputation  is  an  accessory  of  life  ;  it  is  what  men 
think  us  to  be.  Character  is  an  elemental  fact  of 
life,  and  is  what  God  knows  us  to  be.  This  is  the 
real  measure  of  the  man.  A  man  may  be  poorly 
dressed  as  Socrates  ;  he  may  live  in  a  wilderness, 
as  John  the  Baptist ;  he  may  be  a  peasant^s  son, 
as  Martin  Luther ;  he  may  be  a  poor  cobbler,  as 
William  Carey ;  and  the  world  will  acknowledge 
his  kingship,  and  will  be  moved  by  the  force  of  his 


286  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

character.  "  Character  teaches  over  our  heads/' 
says  Emerson.  Again  he  says  that  those  who 
listened  to  Lord  Chatham  felt  that  there  was  some- 
thing finer  in  the  man  than  anything  he  said. 
''  You  could  not  stand  with  Burke  under  an  arch- 
way while  a  shower  of  rain  was  passing/'  said 
Samuel  Johnson,  ^^  without  discovering  that  he 
was  an  extraordinary  man."'  "  This/'  says  Emer- 
son, '^  is  what  we  call  character,  a  reserved  force 
which  acts  directly  by  presence  and  without 
means."  "  Oh,  lole,  how  did  you  know  that  Her- 
cules was  a  God  ? "  "  Because  I  was  content," 
answered  lole,  "  the  moment  my  eyes  fell  on  him. 
When  I  beheld  Theseus  I  desired  that  I  might  see 
him  offer  battle,  or  at  least  guide  his  horses  in  the 
chariot  race  ;  but  Hercules  did  not  wait  for  a  con- 
test ;  he  conquered  whether  he  stood,  or  walked  or 
sat,  or  whatever  he  did"  (Emerson  :  Essays,  Char- 
acter). Call  it  what  we  will,  character,  personality, 
holiness,  there  is  something  in  right  being  which 
attracts,  moves,  wins,  compels  men.  ^^In  him 
was  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men/'  No 
preacher's  sermon  is  one  half  as  powerful  as  him- 
self ;  it  is  the  man  that  gives  the  sermon  weight 
and  authority. 

The  making  of  character,  we  say,  is  the  mean- 
ing of  life.  Character  is  a  creation  of  one's  own 
efforts.  We  begin  life  innocent ;  we  become  either 
sinful  or  holy.  We  begin  life  weak  and  ignorant, 
a  bare  possibility  :  we  make  either  good  character 
or  bad.     That  is  to  say,  character  is  an  achieve- 


GAINING  THE  CROWN.  287 

ment.  We  are  given  a  name  at  birth  :  men  deter- 
mine more  or  less  our  reputation ;  but  we  make 
the  worth  of  our  name ;  we  ourselves  make  or  mar 
our  characters.  There  is  no  power  outside  the 
man  himself  that  can  mar  his  character,  as  there 
is  no  power  that  can  alone  make  his  character. 
Character  is  the  result  of  our  choices,  the  weight 
of  our  personality,  the  thing  that  we  have  made 
ourselves.  The  highest  good  that  can  ever  come 
to  a  man  in  this  world  or  in  any  world  is  a  good 
that  can  be  read  in  terms  of  character.  The  grace 
of  God  that  bringeth  salvation  has  appeared  that 
we  might  become  gracious.  Jesus  Christ  is 
blessing  and  saving  a  man  just  so  far  as  the  man  is 
being  conformed  to  the  character  and  image  of 
Christ.  Men  see  Christ^s  face  when  they  have 
his  character.  Men  are  all  too  apt  to  look  abroad 
for  good,  and  to  expect  blessedness  in  a  change  of 
condition.  But  the  only  true  good  is  within,  and 
the  only  blessedness  which  Christ  has  pronounced 
is  the  blessedness  of  character.  The  crown  which 
the  disciple  gains  is  a  crown  of  life.  Right  life  is 
itself  the  crown  of  glory.  There  is  no  crown  for 
those  who  have  not  won  the  crown  of  right  char- 
acter. "  His  servants  shall  do  him  service  ;  and 
they  shall  see  his  face  ;  and  his  name — that  is  his 
character,  shall  be  on  their  foreheads." 

II.  The  World  is  Desig^-ed  for  the  Mak- 
ing OF  Character. 
We  come  into  the  world  weak,  limited,  ignorant. 


288  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

All  that  we  ever  know  we  must  learn  for  ourselves. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  inherited  wisdom,  ex- 
perience, or  character.  We  sometimes  ask  in  per- 
plexity :  Why  did  not  God  make  us  creatures  of  a 
longer  sight,  a  wider  knowledge,  a  larger  being  ? 
Earth  might  have  been  without  any  darkness,  life 
might  have  had  no  mysteries,  the  way  of  duty 
might  have  been  perfectly  plain.  Why  has  God 
placed  us  in  this  world  of  sorrow,  of  danger,  of 
trial,  of  struggle  ?  Because  he  values  character, 
and  character  can  only  be  made  and  tested  in  trial 
and  struggle  and  danger.  Men  ask  :  Is  this  the 
best  possible  world  ?  Without  hesitation  we  an- 
swer :  Yes,  for  the  purpose  that  God  has  in  view. 
Things  are  so  arrang-ed  in  this  world  that  char- 
acter must  be  made  and  tested.  God  wants  man  to 
grow,  to  become  strong,  to  achieve  a  victory,  to 
win  a  character.  So  all  around  are  difficulties  to 
rouse  him  to  effort ;  there  are  mysteries  to  provoke 
him  to  study  ;  there  are  two  ways  open  to  awaken 
moral  consciousness.  Before  him  various  roads 
are  open,  and  he  is  in  danger  of  turning  into  the 
wrong  path.  Thus  there  must  be  a  forecasting  of 
results,  a  choice  of  roads,  a  moral  discrimination. 
The  very  difficulty  and  hardness  of  man^s  lot  call 
out  all  his  hidden  capabilities  ;  the  very  struggle 
puts  fire  into  his  eye  and  iron  into  his  blood ;  it 
creates  and  develops  moral  character. 

This  life  from  beginning  to  end  is  man's  school- 
house.  No  one  ever  gets  beyond  his  school  days. 
He  may  pass  from  room  to  room,  but  he  never 


GAINING  THE  CEOWN.  289 

passes  out  of  the  school  of  life.  The  child  begins 
life  ignorant  of  the  properties  of  things  around  it ; 
so  each  soul  must  begin  with  the  alphabet  of  ex- 
perience. When  the  child  is  grown  he  must  live 
among  hard,  material  things  ;  so  early  he  must 
learn  the  properties  of  matter.  By  falls  he  learns 
that  the  floor  is  hard,  and  will  not  yield.  He  dis- 
covers that  his  head  and  the  door  cannot  occupy 
the  same  space  at  the  same  time.  The  knife  cuts, 
the  fire  burns,  gravitation  must  not  be  left  out  of 
account.  The  pupil  going  to  school  finds  his  les- 
sons hard,  and  the  lesson  advances  with  the  advance 
of  the  pupil.  When  these  problems  in  arithmetic 
are'  worked  out,  what  is  the  answer  worth  ?  But 
the  discipline  has  done  the  boy  untold  good. 
Some  time  grammar-school  days  will  be  over,  the 
boy  will  become  a  man,  and  will  have  a  man^s 
problems  to  solve.  At  every  ste23  he  is  confronted 
with  problems  which  are  not  dow^n  in  the  books. 
According  to  the  use  he  has  made  of  his  earlier 
years  is  he  now  able  to  meet  and  solve  these  prob- 
lems. Every  end  is  also  a  beginning.  The  ex- 
perience of  one  stage  prepares  the  soul  for  new 
problems,  and  the  new  problems  make  new  experi- 
encesx 

As  it  was  better,  youth 
Should  sti'ive,  through  acts  nncouth, 
Toward  making,  than  repose  on  ought  found  made  : 
So,  better,  age,  exempt 
From  strife,  should  know,  than  tempt 
Further.    Thou  waitedst  age  ;  wait  death  nor  be  afraid, 

19 


290  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

He  fixed  thee  mid  this  dance 

Of  plastic  circumstance, 

This  present,  thou,  forsooth,  wouldst  fain  arrest : 

Machinery  just  meant 

To  give  thy  soul  its  bent, 

Try  thee  and  turn  thee  forth,  sufficiently  impressed. 

(Browning  :  Rdbhi  Ben  Ezra.) 

Well  might  he  say  elsewhere  : 

Was  the  trial  sore  ? 
Temptation  sharp  ?    Thank  God  a  second  time ! 
Why  comes  temptation  but  for  man  to  meet 
And  master  and  make  crouch  beneath  his  foot, 
And  so  be  pedestaled  in  triumph  ?    Pray, 
"  Lead  us  into  no  such  temptation,  Lord  ! " 
Yea,  but  O  thou  whose  servants  are  the  bold. 
Lead  such  temptations  by  the  head  and  hair, 
Reluctant  dragons,  up  to  Avho  dares  fight, 
That  so  he  may  do  battle  and  have  praise. 

{Ring  and  the  Booh :  TJie  Pope.) 

Life  we  say  means  character.  This  life  may  be 
a  school,  but  it  is  a  school  in  which  an  immortal 
soul  is  shaping  an  immortal  character,  and  so  an 
immortal  destiny. 

"  Here  sits  he  shaping  wings  to  fly, 
His  heart  forebodes  a  mystery, 
iBe  names  the  name,  Eternity." 

The  lessons  man  learns  in  this  school  of  life 
go  into  the  molding  and  shaping  of  character. 
Changing  the  figure  a  little,  we  may  say  that  life 
is  a  great  mill  and  man  is  at  the  loom.  At  that 
loom  he  is  weaving  the  fabric  of  character,  a  fab- 


GAINING  THE  CROWN.  291 

ric  that  shall  outlast  the  stars.  The  warp  is  laid 
of  the  many  threads  of  circumstance,  and  condi- 
tion, and  providence ;  the  woof  is  made  of  our 
choices  and  words  and  deeds.  Back  and  forth 
flies  the  shuttle  carrying  the  threads  of  our  choices  ; 
the  loom  weaves  on,  the  fabric  grows,  and  lo, 
there  is  our  life's  pattern  for  the  eye  of  the  Master. 
Or,  changing  the  figure  once  more,  we  may  say 
that  life  is  a  workshop,  in  which  man  is  framing 
the  structure  of  noble  character.  The  product  of 
his  planning  and  toil  stands  visible,  by  and  by,  in 
the  majestic  building  fitly  framed  and  compacted 
together  by  the  harmonious  combination  of  ma- 
terials. But  all  the  time  he  has  been  erecting  an- 
other building  that  stands  visible  only  to  the  eye 
that  sees  in  secret.  This  invisible  building  is  the 
counterpart  of  the  visible  building.  Has  the  man 
put  his  best  effort  into  this  work  ;  has  he  properly 
fitted  every  joint,  has  he  scamped  no  hidden  spot, 
has  he  done  honest,  faithful,  conscientious  work  ? 
If  so,  there  are  no  ugly  seams  in  his  own  charac- 
ter ;  his  inner  life  is  compact,  honest,  faithful, 
ready  to  meet  the  scrutiny  of  the  Master  Builder. 
In  Western  New  York,  near  the  home  of  a  gen- 
tleman of  means,  lived  a  poor  family  ;  the  wife 
was  industrious  and  deserving,  but  the  husband 
was  a  shiftless  carpenter.  The  gentleman  one  day 
determined  to  do  something  for  this  family;  so, be- 
fore going  away  for  some  months,  he  commissioned 
this  do-little  man  to  build  a  house  on  an  indicated 
piece  of  ground.     The  gentleman's  charge  was ; 


292  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP, 

"  Build  it  well ;  do  it  as  you  would  do  if  it  were 
your  own  house/^  The  man  accepted  tlie  com- 
mission, but  responsibility  did  nothing  for  him. 
He  put  poor  material  into  the  structure  and  charged 
for  good  ;  he  scamped  the  joints,  he  took  no  pains 
to  make  the  roof  waterioroof.  But  when  finished 
it  presented  a  good  appearance  with  its  puttied 
cracks  and  fresh  paint.  When  the  gentleman 
came  home  he  inspected  the  work  ;  without  com- 
ment on  the  workmanship  he  said  to  the  man  : 
''  This  is  your  house  ;  you  have  built  it  for  your- 
self. ^^  In  six  months'  time  the  man's  unfaithful- 
ness was  all  revealed  to  himself  and  to  the  world. 
The  man's  constant  comment  was  this  :  "  What  a 
fool  I  was ;  if  I  had  known  this  was  to  be  my 
house,  how  differently  I  would  have  built  it." 
The  man  who  thinks  he  is  cheating  another  is 
cheating  himself.  The  mechanic  who  scamps  his 
employer's  house  is  more  sadly  scamping  his  own 
character.  Fidelity  is  shown  in  little  things,  driv- 
ing nails,  weighing  sugar,  sweeping  rooms,  plow- 
ing fields,  shifting  railroad  switches,  writing  books, 
preaching  sermons.  "  He  that  is  faithful  in  that 
which  is  least  is  faithful  also  in  much  ;  and  he 
that  is  unjust  in  the  least  is  unjust  also  in  much." 
Modern  scientific  thought  has  formulated  what 
is  called  the  law  of  the  conservation  and  trans- 
formation of  energy.  Thus  it  is  possible  to  trans- 
form friction  into  heat,  and  motion  into  light. 
But  this  law  has  innumerable  applications.  Coal, 
water,  and  iron  are  among  the  most  inert  and 


GAINING  THE  CROWN.  293 

lifeless  things  in  the  world.     Yet  they  may  be  so 
combined  and  transformed  as  to  create  energies 
and  results   higher  than  themselves.     At  one  end 
of  the  process  we  have  the  coal  and  the  water  ;  at 
the  other  we  have  the   electric  current  and  the 
flashing  light.      The  strength   of  the   wheatfield 
appears  in  the  vigorous  right  arm     In  the  last 
analysis  it  will  appear  that  material  things  have 
value  to  man  just  so  far  as  they  can  be  transformed 
into    mental   and  spiritual   energies.     Even  eco- 
nomics go  out  into  theology.     In  themselves  oi  and 
wheat  have  no  value,  but  from  what  they  will  ac- 
complish  they   acquire   an   infinite   ya  ue.      And 
there  are  in  these  things  higher  possibilities  than 
most  men  suppose.     The  Master  has  given  a  most 
striking  parable  of  the  shrewd  but  unjust  steward 
who  is  about  to  be  turned  out  of  office.     For  a 
life  of  toil  he  declares  he  is  unfitted,  to  beg  he 
is  ashamed.     In  his  extremity  a  bright  idea  sug- 
gests itself  :  He  will   so  manipulate  the  oil  and 
wheat  at  his  command  as  to  make  sure  of  future 
entertainment  till  he  can  adjust  himself  to  the 
new  conditions.     Oil  and  wheat  he  converts  into 
aflection  and  gratitude.     Between  oil  and  affection 
there  is  no  common  standard  of  measurement,  but 
this  man  changes  one  into  the  other.     The  end 
rolls  round  and  the  man  goes  out  of  office,  totind 
that  the  resources  which  once  he  had  managed 
continue  to  bless  and  serve  him.     And  unjust  as 
the  transaction  may  have  been  in  itself,  his  lord 
cannot  but  commend  his  shrewdness  and  insight. 


294  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

He  sees  that  present,  material,  temporal  things 
have  a  future,  spiritual,  convertible  value.  The 
time  is  coming  in  every  mane's  life  when  material 
things  will  no  longer  signify  or  serve.  Happy  is 
that  man  who  has  recognized  the  convertible  and 
spiritual  possibilities  of  material  things,  and  has 
transformed  them  into  higher  and  eternal  terms. 
The  accessories  and  accidents  of  life  must  all  be 
left  on  this  side  of  the  grave  ;  everything  personal 
and  essential,  everything  that  has  a  real  value  goes 
with  us.  We  come  into  the  world  a  bare  possibil- 
ity ;  material  resources  come  into  our  hands  :  we  go 
hence  soon  and  leave  all  these  perishable  and  tem- 
poral things.  Here  is  the  problem  of  every  man's 
life  :  to  invest  himself  in  priceless  values,  to  con- 
vert material  resources  into  spiritual  potencies,  to 
carry  into  eternity  the  full  results  and  equivalents 
of  the  life  on  earth  ;  in  a  word,  to  transform  work 
into  character,  and  material  possibilities  into 
spiritual  characteristics.  Man^s  work  in  the  world 
consists  in  the  spiritualizing,  the  eternizing  of  pres- 
ent resources  and  opportunities.  The  whole  work 
of  life  consists  in  this  ^^  subliming  of  energy." 
'^  We  brought  nothing  into  this  world,  ''  says  the 
apostle,  '^  and  it  is  certain  we  can  carry  nothing 
out."  In  the  sense  in  which  the  apostle  used  the 
words  they  are  absolutely  true.  But  there  is  a 
sense  in  which  they  are  not  true.  Material  re- 
sources we  brought  not  with  us,  and  we  take  not 
with  us.  But  everything  that  is  personal  and 
essential  to  ourselves  we  take  with  us.     We  came 


GAINING  THE  CEOWN.  295 

into  the  world  innocent  and  characterless  ;  we  go 
hence  taking  the  character  which  we  have  won. 
And  in  that  character  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to 
take  the  conserved  and  transformed  equivalent 
of  all  the  material  resources  which  have  come  into 
his  hands.  The  maker  of  character  must  learn 
that  this  law  of  the  conservation  and  transforma- 
tion of  energy  reaches  on  and  up  into  the  realm  of 
soul,  and  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  trans- 
formation of  daily  work  into  eternal  character. 
The  Sandwich  Islander  believes  that  the  strength 
of  a  conquered  foe  passes  into  the  body  of  the 
conqueror.  In  moral  and  spiritual  matters  it  is 
precisely  so. 

Character  is  an  achievement.  The  man  who 
meets  and  overcomes  obstacles  is  a  better  man  than 
the  one  who  has  never  known  difficulty.  Strong 
character,  worthy  character,  can  be  made  and  tested 
only  in  the  face  of  strong  obstacles.  In  the  South 
Seas  the  conditions  of  life  are  most  easy  and  hospi- 
table, and  man  has  nothing  to  do  but  reach  out  his 
hand  and  pluck  the  breadfruit  from  a  tree;  yet  man- 
hood is  at  a  low  plane,  so  low  that  human  beings 
live  but  little  above  the  level  of  the  brutes.  Scot- 
land has  neither  a  hospitable  soil  nor  a  hospitable 
climate,  but  it  has  something  better  :  it  has  strong 
vigorous  manhood.  The  struggle  of  life  has  de- 
veloped man,  and  has  produced  a  hardy  and  ener- 
getic race.  Say  what  men  will  about  the  hardness 
of  the  law  of  the  struggle  for  existence,  where  the 
struggle  is   keenest  man  is  strongest.     Only  by 


296  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

hard  labor  can  the  majority  of  men  win  their  sup- 
port out  of  an  unwilling  earth.  In  close  factories, 
over  scorching  furnaces,  with  tired  body,  heavy 
heart,  and  whirling  brain,  man  must  earn  his  liv- 
ing. Sometimes  we  are  inclined  to  complain  of  all 
this  and  to  chafe  at  our  human  lot.  But  the  very 
hardness  of  man's  lot  develops  energy  of  character, 
it  calls  out  his  hidden  capabilities  ;  patience,  per- 
severance, fidelity,  become  the  crowning  virtues 
of  man. 

Life  is  not  as  idle  ore, 
But  iron  dug  from  central  gloom, 
And  heated  hot  with  burning  fears. 
And  dipped  in  baths  of  hissing  tears, 
And  battered  with  the  shocks  of  doom 
To  shaj^e  and  use. 

Tennyson  :  In  Memoriam,  cxvii. 

There  is  no  mistake  about  our  human  lot  if  we 
only  look  deep  enough.  The  presence  of  sin  in 
God^s  universe  is  a  stupendous  problem.  God  does 
not  want  it  here,  else  he  had  not  given  his  Son  to 
put  it  away  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself.  Man  does 
not  want  it.  And  sin  is  not  desirable  for  its  own 
sake.  Yet  it  is  here,  a  hard,  stubborn,  awful,^fact, 
darkening  man's  life,  and  threatening  his  eternity. 
The  origin  and  cause  of  sin  we  are  not  able  to 
understand,  and  we  must  leave  the  problem  for 
the  present  life.  But  now  that  sin  is  here,  we  can 
easily  see  that  it  may  be  a  part  of  the  education 
toward  a  worthier  blessedness.  The  presence  of 
sin  exposes  man  to  fearful  risks,  but  were  there  no 


GAINING  THE  CBOWN.  297 

sin  to  be  overcome  there  could  be  for  man  no  right 
character  achieved,  no  holy  conscience  won.  Holi- 
ness can  only  be  known  as  holiness  in  the  face  of 
things  that  offend. and  thwart  it.  Character  can 
only  be  achieved  in  the  presence  of  trial  and  toil. 
Does  any  one  complain  because  God  made  him  a 
man  and  will  hold  him  responsible  for  his  life  ? 
Who  had  rather  be  an  innocent  sheep,  incapable 
of  sin,  and  so  incapable  of  holiness,  than  to  be  a 
man  exposed  to  temptation,  taking  blows,  endur- 
ing hardness,  but  capable  of  overcoming  and  gain- 
ing the  crown  of  unfading  glory  ?  This  we  know  : 
a  man  saved  from  sin  is  a  grander,  worthier  man, 
than  one  who  never  was  in  danger.  It  is  better  to 
be  a  man  and  know  the  risk  of  failure  and  the 
privilege  of  character,  than  to  be  a  sheep,  and 
never  know  this  risk  and  privilege.  Some  may 
fail ;  they  may  refuse  the  fight  and  shirk  the  toil 
and  lose  the  crown.  Were  character  to  be  gained 
by  wishing,  it  would  have  no  value.  Only  to  the 
conquerors  go  the  crowns.  There  is  one  song 
which  even  the  angels  cannot  sing  :  it  is  the  song 
of  redeeming  love.  And  grander,  sweeter,  worthier 
than  the  song  of  unfallen  angels  is  the  song  of 
those  who  have  come  up  through  tribulation,  and 
have  washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 

This  world's  no  blot  for  us 
Nor  blank  ;  it  means  intensely,  and  means  good. 

What  makes  the  hero  ?     Calmness  in  the  face  of 


298  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

danger.  What  makes  the  saint  ?  Overcoming  the 
world  and  one^s  own  heart.  What  makes  character 
such  a  priceless  thing  ?  The  cost  at  which  it  must 
be  won. 

III.  The  Well-made  Character  is  Fitted 
FOR  High  Eespon^sibilities. 

Character  is  power  for  this  world  and  for  every 
world.  Character  is  a  timeless  thing.  It  is  the 
one  thing  that  God  values,  the  one  thing  that  has 
meaning  in  the  place  of  trade,  in  the  pulpit,  in 
the  home,  in  the  state,  before  the  great  white 
throne  in  the  courts  of  heaven.  The  world  is 
always  looking  for  men  of  character,  men  whose 
opinions  are  not  for  sale ;  men  who  are  sound 
from  centre  to  circumference  ;  men  whose  con- 
science is  as  steady  as  the  needle  to  the  pole  ;  men 
who  can  suffer  but  cannot  tell  a  lie  ;  men  who  can 
look  the  devil  in  the  face  and  tell  him  he  is  a  devil ; 
men  who  can  stand  for  the  right  though  the 
heavens  fall ;  men  who  can  die  for  the  truth  but 
cannot  run  from  the  wrong :  men  whose  moral 
latitude  and  longitude  can  be  forecast  at  any  hour 
of  the  day  or  night ;  men  who  can  be  trusted 
without  bond  and  can  be  faithful  when  no  one 
sees.  Character  for  this  life  is  an  end  in  itself ; 
to  be  is  its  own  reward.  But  character  like  godli- 
ness is  profitable  for  the  life  that  now  is,  and  it 
contains  a  promise  for  the  life  that  is  to  come. 

The  life  of  man  was  made  for  two  worlds.  The 
life  here  and  the  life  there  make  up  the  sum  of 


GAINING  THE  CROWN.  299 

human  existence.  The  sky  of  the  most  meagre 
human  life  overarches  both  time  and  eternity.  We 
take  ourselves  with  ns  wherever  we  go  in  time  or 
in  eternity  ;  and  character  makes  heaven,  and  the 
want  of  it  hell.  To  make  good  character  is  why 
we  are  here.  If  we  have  failed  in  this  we  have 
failed  all  along  the  line  ;  hopelessly,  irreparably 
we  have  failed.  In  these  few  years  of  life  men  are 
determining  their  fitness  or  unfitness  to  be  placed 
over  larger  responsibilities  in  the  larger  kingdom  of 
heaven.  Here  we  are  as  stewards  handling  the 
resources  of  another  ;  but  by  the  use  of  these  tem- 
poral things  we  gain  something  for  ourselves. 
Very  significant  is  this  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as 
he  sums  up  that  parable  of  the  shrewd  steward  : 
'^  If  therefore  ye  have  not  been  faithful  in  the  un- 
righteous mammon,  who  will  commit  to  your  trust 
the  true  riches  ?"  "  And  if  ye  have  not  been  faith- 
ful in  that  which  is  another  man^s,  who  shall  give 
you  that  which  is  your  own  V  The  lesson  is 
clear  ;  as  we  use  our  present  resources  do  we  deter- 
mine what  shall  be  our  future  status  and  our  future 
w^orth.  According  to  the  degree  of  fidelity  shown 
here  in  the  use  of  material  things, — the  unright- 
eous mammon, — do  we  determine  our  fitness  for 
larger  trusts  in  the  future.  In  the  Mastery's  par- 
able of  the  pounds  we  have  the  same  truth  from  a 
different  point  of  view.  The  man  who  has  gained 
ten  pounds  is  placed  over  ten  cities.  Man  is  a 
trader  now,  but  he  is  to  be  a  ruler  by  and  by. 
The  end  that  the  noble  lord  has  in  view  for  these 


300  THE  NEW  CITIZENSHIP. 

servants  is  not  money-making  but  character- 
making.  He  wants  to  create  in  them  a  hardihood 
of  temper,  a  firmness  of  will,  an  energy  of  thought, 
which  can  be  turned  to  good  account,  when  these 
traders  have  become  rulers. 

This  universe  is  far  greater  than  any  of  us  sup- 
pose. What  work  there  may  be  in  store  for  the 
fitted  men  who  can  tell  ?  AVhat  trusts  are  waiting 
high  character  we  cannot  imagine.  But  there  is 
reason  to  believe,  from  the  analogy  of  spirit,  that 
what  we  call  heaven  is  a  realm  of  the  most  unceas- 
ing activity.  Once  men  thought  of  the  universe 
as  finished  ;  now  through  geology  and  astronomy 
we  know  that  it  is  in  process  of  making.  What 
part  the  man  of  high  character  may  be  called  to 
play  in  this  great  process,  no  one  can  say  ;  but 
these  considerations  open  before  us  a  wide  field  for 
thought.  Whatever  may  be  the  trust  committed 
to  the  man  of  holy  character,  one  thing  is  clear  : 
the  trust  w^ill  be  adjusted  to  the  capacity  and 
fidelity  of  the  soul.  Here  men  estimate  the  work 
and  worth  of  man  by  artificial  and  arbitrary  stand- 
ards. Men  divide  work  into  high  or  low,  more 
respectable  or  less  respectable,  noble  or  base.  But 
in  heaven^s  estimate  such  considerations  do  not 
obtain.  Heaven's  estimate  takes  note  only  of  the 
fidelity  shown,  the  patience,  the  love,  diligence. 
'^  Life,"  said  James  Russell  Lowell,  ''  is  constantly 
weighing  us  in  very  sensitive  scales,  and  telling 
every  one  of  us  precisely  what  his  real  weight  is  to 
the  last  grain  of  dust.''     He  who  builds  a  struc- 


GAINING  THE  CROWN.  301 

ture  to  outlast  the  stars  cannot  too  carefully  scruti- 
nize the  materials  used,  nor  can  he  too  faithfully 
follow  the  pattern  shown  in  the  mount,  nor  too 
prayerfully  keep  his  hand  true  to  the  highest 
fidelity. 

Build  it  well,  whate'er  you  do  ; 
Build  it  straight,  and  strong,  and  true  ; 
Build  it  clean,  and  high,  and  broad. 
Build  it  for  the  eye  of  God. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Agassiz •: g^ 

Advantage,  unfair -«« 

AKempis *'l 

Alway,  George &« 

lSSf.'°.":v.v.-.v.v.v.v.-v.ibK| 

Amusements :J^" 

Questionable ^^o 

Proper ; ^^^ 

Arnold,  Thomas '30 

Art....  ••..-• ^. 

Ascetic  ideal ^^ 

Asceticism ^^^ 

Augustine »^ 

Bascom,  John 152,  154,  166 

Beatific  Vision j^ 

Bible,  books  of "^ 

Study  of 1^^ 

Biography •  • •  •  •  •     2^ 

Boardman,  Geo.  Dana.  ..122,  2.8 

Body  of  humanity lo' 

Books • }V: 

Brainerd,  David l^i 

Brooks,  Phillips ^^^ 

Browning,  Mrs •  •  •  -  •  •  i^^f 

Browning,  Robert 29,  .38, 

78,  134,  203,  290,  297 

Eryce,  James ,••••     12 

Byron,  Lord 9( 

Buddhist  precept 


Saint. 


26 


Buff  on ^^^ 

Bunyan,John ^3,  188,  260 

Burke,  Edmund .  .46,  241, 242,  286 

Burritt,  Elihu •  ■  •  •  •  •  •  •  142 

Bushnell,  Horace ....  156, 264,  266 


91 
161 


Cain 

Caliph  Ali •••    .^»i 

Calvin,  John 13,  164 


PAGE 

Carlo  Borromeo 200 

Carlvle,  Thos.  69,96,  194,  216,  221 

gKS'..'!-..'?:::;:^:»i-,| 

Balance  in 145 

Ideals  of ',  283 

Natural ^ 

Progressof 19,    27 

Supreme  thing 285 

Channing,  W.  E... 1^0 

China,  Emperor  of '^fi 

Christ 5,  IrO 

Christian _^^^ 

Christianity,  a  feast 19^ 

Timelinessof 7 

Reality  of 23,181 

Church i)!^ 

Abody..... f^l 

Business  of ^'Jf 

Clirist  continued 2^4 

Household  of  faith 2<2 

Importance  of 209 

Ordinances  of 276,  279 

Organized  service 2<3 

Cicero - ^f^ 

Circe 1^^ 

City,  seeking  a. ^5» 

Confession  in  prayer Wf 

Confessing  Christ ^og 

Contentment J^| 

Creation,  Christ  m ' » 

Cross •••    1% 

Jovin 91,    93 

Law  of  life 85,    93 

Disciple's »g 

Power  of ^'^ 

Dale,R.W........  22.37,194,226 


304 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Daniel 137 

Dante 11 

Democracy,  drift  toward 248 

Destruction,  city  of 25 

Dewey,  Orville 217 

Discipleship 87 

Distinction,  three  kinds  of . .  284 

Dives 56 

Doctrines 70 

Drummond,  Prof.  Henry.... 

5,  18,  47,  163,  182,  231 

Earnings 224 

Ecclesiastes 37 

Economics 221 

Egypt 49 

Elisha 57 

Eliot,  George 131 

Emerson,  R.  W 286 

Employer  and  employe 227 

Energy,  conservation  of 292 

Evil 151 

Evils,  list  of 21 

Excuses,  common 205 

Fable  of  the  wind  and  sun..  1.53 

Fairbairn,  Prin.  A.  M 167 

Family 235 

Farmer 183 

Fenelon 141,  198 

Fidelity  shown 292 

Findlay,  G.  G 172 

Florence,  Christ  king  of 258 

Fremantle,  Canon,  W.  H.... 

12,  13,  232,  233 
Future  world  and  work 300 

Galatians,  Epistle  to 171 

Gambling 226 

Gentile  prayer 116 

Gilman,  N.  P 222 

God,  ever  present 53,61,    62 

Sovereignty  of 101 

Universal  will 251 

Good  Samaritan 27 

Gordon,  A.  J 270 

Gordon,  G.  A 165 

Gospels,  four 66 

Grace,  growth  in 19 

Gregory  the  Great 28 

Guizot 13 

Habits 123 

And  character 129 

Good 127 

Law  of 124 

Mental 131 

Moral 1,33 

Permanence  of 125 

Of  prayer 136 


PAGH 

Habits  Of  Bible  study 137 

Of  reading 140 

Of  Christian  service 139 

Hamilton,  Sir  Wm 132 

Hart,  Prof.  J.  S 34 

Hatch,  Edwin 9,  10 

Help,  man  needs 98 

Hebrews,  Epistle  to 7,  71 

Herbert,  George 187 

Hercules 286 

Herron,  George  D 235 

Herodotus 131 

Hitchcock,  R.  D 84 

Holiness 267 

to  the  Lord 269 

Hodges,  Dean  George 5 

Honors 58 

Hosea 64 

Hubmaier,  B 13 

Hudson  River 94 

Hugo,  Victor 130 

Humility 1.50,  157 

Hyde,  Pres.  DeWitt..l9,  105,  265 

Ideals,  varying 14 

Idealist 36 

Ignis  Fatuus 40 

Impatience 164 

Indifference  impossible 265 

Industry,  Captains  of 2-33 

Inertia 123 

Inspiration 67 

Institutions,    three    Divine 

235,  261 
Integrity 201 

Jacob 68 

James 114 

Jehovah 52 

Jesus  among  men 22 

Cleansing  temple 256 

Joan  of  Arc 44 

Job 107 

Joel,  prophet 35 

John,  Apostle 87,  193 

John,  Baptist 55,  1.57 

Johnson,  Samuel 286 

Jones,  Mayor  S.  M 225 

Joseph 206 

Judaism 168 

Keble 182 

King  and  peasant 214 

Kingdom  of  God 223 

Ideals  of 247 

Koran 214 

Law  in  nature 54,  99, 103 

J   Lawyer 184 


INDEX. 


305 


PAGE 

Legislation 253 

Leighton,  Archbishop..  ..80,  192 

Lieber,  Francis 253 

Life  aschool 288 

No  mistake 296 

Springsof 28 

Longfellow 35 

Love 77,    79 

Lowell 17,  34,  45,  300 

Luke's  Gospel 65 

Luther,  Martin 13 

Lubbock,  Sir  John 142 

Macaulay,  T.  B 191 

Man  discontented 59 

For  two  worlds 293 

Marshall.  Alfred 221 

Martineau,  James 283 

Martyn,  Henry 145 

Matheson,  George 32,  111, 

115,  167,  208 

McClure,  J.  G.  K 44,  202 

Mechanic 183 

Merchant,  calling 183 

Saint 25 

Mill,  Johns 143 

Mill  and  market 208 

Missionary 25 

Mohammed 184 

Momentum 128 

Moody,  D.  L 246 

Moral  distinctions 254 

Morality  and  religion 19 

Mozley,  Canon 22 

Murray,  Andrew 157,  159 

Napoleon 130 

Nations 236 

Nature,  study  of 200 

Nehemiah 206 

New  Jerusalem 18 

Newton,  John 82 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac 132 

New  wine 6 

Office,  prostituting  public . .  252 

Organization,  power  of 273 

Overcoming  life 207 

Palace  Beautiful 260 

Parables,  Dives    and  Laza- 
rus    56 

Man  on  island 281 

Rich  farmer 57 

Unjust  steward 293 

Parker,  Then 165 

Parkhurst,  C.  H 122 

Pascal 49 

Patience 162,  163 


PAGK 

Patriotism 249 

Paul,  quoted... 70,  73,  86,  179,  180 

Perfection 16 

Persecuted 150 

Peter,  apostle 280 

Pharisees 33,  193 

Phelps,  Austin 195 

Pilate,  Pontius 39 

and  Christ 243 

Pilgrim's  calling 17 

Plato 29,211,  239 

Pleasure 100 

Politics 250 

"■  Sunday  school " 257 

Politician,  on  being 244 

Political  consciousness 238 

Pope  Boniface  VIII 12 

Pompilia 203 

Prayer 95 

Christian 118 

Elements  of 106 

Habit  of 136 

Kinds  of Ill 

Lord's  prayer... 110,  110,  118 

Natural 116 

Selfish 114 

Objections  to 102 

Reasons  for 96 

Pride 158 

Progress 41 

Protestantism 14 

Puritans 71,  191 

Race,  unity  of 15 

Reading  habit 140 

Reconciliation 83 

Recreation 193 

Redeemed  world 178 

Reformation 13 

Religion  and  morality 19 

False  views  of 28 

Revelation,  how  given 7 

Richter,  Jean  Paul 99 

Righteousness 19 

Right  ideals 30 

Robertson,  F.  W 98,  176 

Roman  world 10 

Rosetta  stone 50 

Rothe 6 

Roval  law 228 

Ruskin,  John 24.  30,  49,  IGO, 

162,  185,  226 

Sacred  and  secular 174 

Sacrifice 87 

Sacrificial  life 90 

Sainthood,  traditional 21 

Salvation 20,  1 67 

Saxons 147 


306 


INDEX, 


PAGE 

Scriptures,  a  revelation 51 

Profitable 72 

Second  century  life 8 

Seeley,  J.  R 235 

Sermon  on  Mount 148 

Service,  mutual 27 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of 49 

Shakespeare, 38, 112 

Sin 80 

deliverance  from 79 

Slavery 211 

Smith,  Geo.  Adam 144 

Solidarity 16,  237 

Sonship...   103 

Speculation 225 

Spirit,  ruling 154 

Spirituality 183 

Standards. 60 

Stalker,  James 153 

State 237 

Ideals  for 247 

Jewish 242 

Necessary  to  man 242 

A  partnership 240 

Steward,  unjust 293 

Stewards,  faithful 299 

St.  Francis 185 

Table  made  by  Christ 179 

Tennyson.. 43,  55,  98,  106,  256,  296 

Thackeray 96 

Thankfulness 106 

Time  saved 142 

Tolstoi,  Leo 151,  240 

Trade 209 

Trader 217 

Transformed  life 46 


PAGE 

Truth 39 

Twelve  apostles,  teaching  of     8 
Types 50 

Vanity  Fair 188 

Vanity  of  vanities 37 

Virtue 19 

Habitual 134 

Virtues 20 

Efficiency  of  passive. ..  152 

Ideals  of 146 

Passive 146 

Visions  and  ideals 29 

Wagner,  Charles....  188, 190,  213 

Ward,  Lester  F 222,  231 

WeUington,  Duke  of 130 

Westcott,  Bishop  B.  F 208 

235,  236 

Whittier 144 

Williams,  W.  R 162 

Woman  of  Samaria 170 

Work 210 

Despised 211 

Honest 291 

Necessary 210 

Scamped 181 

Service  in 218 

Significance  of 214 

Worship 106 

Promoted 268 

White,  Kirke 37 

Youth,  time  of  visions 35 

Zechariah 173 


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